Nearly 130,000 people in the Greater Horn of Africa are “dying in sight” of catastrophic hunger, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Friday.
About 48 million people in the Greater Horn – Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda – face food insecurity levels, the WHO said.
This means that households do not eat and reduce their savings and assets in order to eat.
Of these, six million face the emergency level of food insecurity, and 129,000 are at the worst level – disaster.
“They are facing starvation and death in front of their eyes,” said Liesbeth Aelbrecht, WHO’s incident manager for the health crisis in the Greater Horn of Africa.
Of the 129,000, 96,000 are in Somalia and 33,000 in South Sudan, he told reporters in Geneva via video link from Nairobi.
“Most parts of the region are experiencing the worst drought in at least 40 years, while other parts have been hit by floods, leading to widespread hunger,” he said.
“We have seen an increase in disease outbreaks and the number of malnourished children over the years,” he said.
An estimated 11.9 million children under the age of five may be acutely malnourished this year.
The region faces outbreaks of measles, cholera, malaria, dengue, hepatitis E and meningitis.
“The number of reported disease outbreaks in the Greater Horn of Africa has reached its highest level this century, with health systems in most of the seven countries struggling to cope,” Aelbrecht said.
They say the frequency of the disease can be directly linked to extreme climate events.
The region is one of the most vulnerable to climate change, with crises becoming more frequent and more intense.
Five failed rainy seasons in a row have killed millions of animals, destroyed crops, and forced millions of people to leave their homes in search of water and food elsewhere.
“With climate change now a reality, we need to prepare for emergencies that are occurring with increasing frequency,” Aelbrecht said.
“Right now, resources are needed to prevent widespread disease and death,” he said, with the WHO asking for $178 million by 2023.