The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Northern Ethiopia facing likely devastating spike in preventable disease: WHO
The UN health agency WHO expressed serious concerns on Friday about a likely spike in a range of preventable diseases in Ethiopia’s northern regions - and in particular Tigray – caused by nearly two years of conflict and chronic aid access problems.
“There are 5.2 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Tigray; that number includes 3.8 million people who are in need of health assistance and we need to reach these people,” said Ilham Abdelhai Nour, World Health Organization Team Lead for Ethiopia, Incident Management System and Emergencies Operations.
“We have access in Amhara and Afar, so we know more about the situation there and we were able to intervene and support,” Ms. Nour said, referring to the regions bordering Tigray. “However, we do not have access in Tigray; there is no air or road access in Tigray for the last six weeks.”
According to WHO, malaria infections have risen by a full 80 per cent in Tigray and by 40 per cent in Amhara compared to last year – although cases are decreasing in Afar.
But malaria is just one of the deadly threats facing millions of people affected by conflict and humanitarian agencies have issued repeated alerts on their behalf, since fighting between federal troops and separatists in Tigray erupted in November 2020.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus – himself an ethnic Tigrayan - has echoed those concerns several times, including last week, when he warned that there was only a “very narrow window” to prevent genocide in his home region.
Despite the physical and telecommunications access barriers faced by aid teams working in Tigray, enough regular updates have emerged from the region – sometimes delivered by hand to WHO - to warrant Friday’s alert, the UN agency insisted.
Citing UN World Food Programme (WFP) data, WHO noted that in Amhara and Afar, 19 per cent and 14 per cent of mainly displaced children under five were now food insecure, while in Tigray, “a staggering” 89 per cent of the population is food insecure and nearly half are severely food insecure.
“Almost one in every three children under five in Tigray is malnourished,” said Altaf Musani, Director of the Health Emergencies Interventions, speaking in Geneva. “Severe acute malnutrition among children in the region is six per cent, 65 per cent of children have not received nutritional support in over a year.”
Highlighting the clear link between malnutrition and disease, Mr. Musani described how basic health services had been cut. Understanding the true scale of needs has also been complicated by the fact that only 30 per cent of health facilities in Tigray are still able to provide weekly situation reports to WHO.
“Immunisation services (are) a lifeline to children to keep them alive; those services have stopped,” Mr. Musani said. “We know that there are confirmed reports of stockouts, IV fluids, antibiotics other treatment medicines don’t exist in those facilities, we’ve had first-hand reports of that information.”
As peace talks between the combatants began this week in South Africa, Tigrayan communities urgently need guaranteed and safe access to provide lifesaving assistance, WHO insisted.
“Access was intermittent between March and August and during the humanitarian truce (in Afar, Amhara and Tigray) we were able to bring in, not a lot, but really a small quantity that covers really a small amount of the needs there, said Ms. Nour: “We were also able to support essential services in Tigray, support the measles campaign there, but we were unable to distribute supplies very quickly because of little cash and fuel. We were unable to undertake malaria prevention activities because of the same reasons; we were not able to extend the COVID-19 vaccination campaign beyond the capital Mekelle, so we have a huge issue of access there.”
ends
STORY: Health Alert Northern Ethiopia – WHOTRT: 3 min 01s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 28 October 2022 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Wide, UN Geneva flag alley.
- Wide, press room, photographer crouching to take photos, podium speakers, participants.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), Ilham Abdelhai Nour, Team Lead for Ethiopia, Incident Management System and Emergencies Operations: “There are 5.2 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Tigray; that number includes 3.8 million people who are in need of health assistance and we need to reach these people.”
- Medium, journalist looking at speakers, photographer taking photos.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), Altaf Musani, Director of the Health Emergencies Interventions: “Almost one in every three children under five in Tigray is malnourished. Severe acute malnutrition among children in the region is six per cent, 65 per cent of children have not received nutritional support in over a year.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), Altaf Musani, Director of the Health Emergencies Interventions: “We’re very clear about the cycle of malnutrition and disease and the likelihood for that.”
- Medium, journalist typing on laptop.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), Altaf Musani, Director of the Health Emergencies Interventions: “Immunisation services is a lifeline to children to keep them alive; those services have stopped. We know that there are confirmed reports of stockouts, IV fluids, antibiotics other treatment medicines don’t exist in those facilities, we’ve had first hand reports of that information.”
- Wide, press room, participants.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), Ilham Abdelhai Nour, Team Lead for Ethiopia, Incident Management System and Emergencies Operations: “We have access in Amhara and Afar, so we know more about the situation there and we were able to intervene and support. However, we do not have access in Tigray; there is no air or road access in Tigray for the last six weeks.”
- Medium , participant working on laptop.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), Ilham Abdelhai Nour, Team Lead for Ethiopia, Incident Management System and Emergencies Operations: “Before that, the access was intermittent between March and August and during the humanitarian truce we were able to bring in, not a lot, but really a small quantity that covers really a small amount of the needs there.”
- Close, photographer lining up shot.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), Ilham Abdelhai Nour, Team Lead for Ethiopia, Incident Management System and Emergencies Operations: “We were also able to support essential services in Tigray, support the measles campaign there, but we were unable to distribute supplies very quickly because of little cash and fuel. We were unable to undertake malaria prevention activities because of the same reasons, we were not able to extend the COVID-19 vaccination campaign beyond the capital Mekelle, so we have a huge issue of access there.”
- Medium, participants.
- Wide, participants.
- Medium, speakers.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
At least six million people in Somalia are going days without enough food, UN aid teams warned on Friday, highlighting that nearly two million of this number are young children “at high risk of illness or death”.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OCHA , UNICEF , UNOG , WFP , FAO , WHO , UNEP , ILO , WMO
UN Geneva press briefing chaired by Rolando Gómez, Chief, Press and External Relations Section, UN Information Service, with the participation of representatives of OCHA, UNICEF, WFP, FAO, WHO, UNEP, ILO and WMO.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
Children shot, stabbed and pepper-sprayed in occupied West Bank; scores of Gaza amputees denied prosthetics, aid teams warn
Israeli military operations and surging settler attacks in the occupied West Bank are killing and maiming Palestinian children, while in Gaza tens of thousands with life-changing injuries lack access to treatment and rehabilitation, UN agencies warned on Tuesday.
1
1
2
Press Conferences | UN WOMEN , UNDP , UNEP , UNICEF , WHO
UN WOMEN: Ukraine war deadlier for women and girls; UNICEF: West Bank and East Jerusalem, children targeted in direct violence and dismantling of systems and services; WHO: Gaza, update on medical rehabilitation needs; UNDP: South Sudan: fragility, elections, local peacebuilding, justice access and community resilience; UNEP: Sand and Sustainability report.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNEP
Launch of the United Nations Environment Programme’s report: ‘2026 Sand and Sustainability: An Essential Resource for Nature and Development’.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
The risk of hantavirus spreading to the general population is “absolutely low”, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) stressed on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UN WOMEN , WFP , WHO
UN Women - The situation of women and girls in Lebanon; WFP - Deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Somalia; WHO - Hantavirus interim update
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , IFRC
Death and destruction have continued unabated in Lebanon while communities are still unable to return to their homes despite a ceasefire that began on 17 April, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Deadly hantavirus on board cruise ship may be transmitted among humans - WHO
Hantavirus victims on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean may have been infected prior to joining the cruise and human-to-human transmission on board cannot be ruled out – although it is rare - the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | ILO , UNHCR , IFRC , WHO , OHCHR , UNECE
ILO: Skills and Lifelong Learning report; UNHCR, IFRC: Lebanon, rise in humanitarian needs ; WHO: Cruise Ship Hantavirus; OHCHR: Mali, Civilians Impacted Amid Clashes; UNECE: Call for Water Cooperation in Central Africa; IFRC: Call for Protection of Humanitarian Personnel on the Anniversary of the IFRC founding
1
7
1
1
Press Conferences | ITU , UNDRR
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU Secretary-General and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Kamal Kishore, will brief the media on the launch a joint report titled "When Digital Systems Fail: The Hidden Risks of our Digital World."
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN rights chief concerned by upheld convictions of Cambodian activists.