AFRICA: BENIN: 6000 MALNOURISHED CHILDREN IN HOSPITAL

Agenzia Fides REPORT - "The Department of Pediatrics at Fatebenefratelli Hospital in Tanguiéta, Benin, is literally bursting. In the past year, due to the worsening economic crisis that has hit the Country, the children hospitalized for malnutrition has doubled from 3000 to 6000". In a statement sent to Agenzia Fides, Fra Luca Beato, Vice President of UTA (United for Tanguiéta and Afagnan), Onlus that has supported the solidarity initiatives of the African Fatebenefratelli hospital in Benin and Togo for over 15 years, launches the alarm. The increasingly extreme poverty of this country makes food resources more scarce with serious repercussions in terms of nutrition, especially on children. "20% of these children - says Fra Fiorenzo Priuli, Director of the Hospital in Tanguiéta – arrive in the pediatric ward in a state of extreme seriousness, so we need to put them in intensive care to save them from starvation. The structure of Pediatrics - continues Fra Fiorenzo - normally has 80 beds, but the mothers who are about 120/150 accommodate themselves on mats with their children (from one to three). At night, in the adjacent corridor, the personal assistant has difficulty walking among the mats". (AP) (Agenzia Fides 10/11/2011)

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