uMgungundlovu is malnutrition hotspot in KZN – health report

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has identified the uMgungundlovu District as one of the province’s malnutrition hotspots, with poverty being a major driving factor. According to a detailed nutrition report tabled before the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature’s Health Portfolio Committee yesterday, uMgungundlovu is among six districts carrying a disproportionately high burden of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM). Compiled using web-based District Health Information System (DHIS) data for February 2026, the report highlights stark geographic disparities, with eThekwini, Harry Gwala, iLembe, King Cetshwayo, Ugu district municipalities also categorised as regions with a high burden of SAM.

“Malnutrition is not evenly distributed across the province. It is clustered in communities characterised by poverty, food insecurity, and limited access to basic services,” the department said in the report. “In uMgungundlovu, clinic-level data points to concentrated pressure on health facilities serving rural and under-resourced communities, with the report warning that “uniform provincial interventions risk missing high-risk localities where the need is greatest,” the report says.

The provincial health department further cautioned that while KZN has made progress in reducing SAM mortality – down from 11.7% in 2009/10 to 6.4% in 2024/25, the overall burden of malnutrition remains “high and unequal.” “Clinical gains are evident, but prevention continues to lag behind,” the report said. The department also raised concern over systemic weaknesses undermining the response, including staff shortages and gaps in specialist care. “Four districts lack nutrition co-ordinators, while some hospitals do not have permanent dietitians.

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This constrains outreach, supervision and continuity of care,” the department said. On the link between malnutrition and HIV, the department said there was a reduction in the number of malnutrition deaths among individuals living with HIV & Aids.

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