About 53 million people, or one in six, are food insecure in the Horn of Africa region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said this Friday, which also warned of the danger of epidemic outbreaks in the region.
Floods currently affecting Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, the countries of the Horn of Africa, as well as Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda and Djibouti, have forced thousands of people to leave their homes after long periods of drought and “increase the risk of disease outbreaks in areas already affected by malaria and cholera,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned at a press conference.
The Ethiopian expert emphasized that the lack of resources hinders WHO’s work on the ground to help people affected by the food and health crisis, and recalled that this year WHO needs $178 million (€166 million) to support the region.