Acute malnutrition surges in Somali children, UNICEF says

Some 1.4 million children indrought-hit Somalia are projected to suffer acute malnutritionthis year, 50 per cent more than estimated in January, the UNChildren's Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.

The new figure includes more than 275,000 childrenpotentially facing a life-threatening severe acute form ofmalnutrition, who are nine times more likely to die of choleraor measles, UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado said.

"The combination is deadly for children," Mercado told aGeneva news briefing on return from the central city of Baidoa."It can spread like fire in congested displacement camps."

UNICEF has treated 56,000 Somali children for the mostsevere form of malnutrition since the beginning of year, anincrease of 88 per cent over last year, she said. The known deathrate among them was one per cent, she added.

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The agency had no figure for the overall number of childrenwho have died so far of hunger and disease in Somalia, butMercado noted that in the 2011 famine an estimated 258,000people died over an 18-month period, including 133,000 youngchildren.

Some 615,000 Somalis have fled their homes due to droughtand failed crops since last November, joining onemillionpreviously internally displaced, UNspokespersonJens Laerkesaid.

The UNhas received nearly 60 per cent towards itshumanitarian funding appeal of $720 million for Somalia thisyear, he said, adding: "We are still in a race against time."