“Prolonged drought in northern Cameroon, an aspect of the changing climate that is affecting the whole Sahel region, has reduced food output, pushed up prices and increased the severity and prevalence of malnutrition among children, experts say,” Thomson Reuters Foundation reports. “An estimated 330,600 children under five are at risk of severe and acute malnutrition in northern Cameroon, said [a UNICEF] survey report, which was issued in March,” the news service writes, noting, “Children are also expected to require specialist treatment in clinics in northern Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali and northern Senegal, [the survey] added.” According to the news service, “The Cameroon government has issued an alert saying that more than half the villages in the region are suffering from extreme food insecurity. The health ministry said almost 40 percent of children under five were at risk of vitamin A deficiency, rising to over 62 percent in the north.” Public Health Minister Andre Mama Fouda “told state radio that the government, UNICEF and the World Food Programme were providing food and vitamin supplements and de-worming medicine, and further action was planned,” the news service notes (Ngalame, 7/25).