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Malnutrition rates are rising above alert levels in many parts of Ethiopia, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned today.
More than 20 million people in Ethiopia rely heavily on food aid, especially refugees and displaced persons. Those most at risk are pregnant women, new mothers, children under the age of five, and people living with HIV.
“The suspension is an alarming development as it comes after a long period of sporadic and irregular food aid distributions, at a time when the humanitarian situation across the country is already dire,” said Cara Brooks, MSF country director for Ethiopia. “People are grappling with the worst drought in four decades, economic hardship and recurring violence. Even before the suspension went into effect, our medical teams were witnessing alarmingly high rates of global acute malnutrition, well above the emergency threshold.”
The suspension of food distribution comes in the context of investigations into the widespread misuse of food aid. In May, food distribution was suspended in the Tigray region and in June across Ethiopia. Food distributions have been irregular and erratic in recent months, contributing to the high rates of malnutrition MSF has seen.
From January to April, staff at MSF’s clinics in Shire and Sheraro, in the Tigray region, screened 8,000 pregnant women and new mothers and determined that 72.5 percent were acutely malnourished. Mothers who are malnourished are at greater risk of complications during childbirth and their babies are more likely to have poor health outcomes. Clinic staff also screened 17,803 children under the age of five and found that 21.5 percent had moderate acute malnutrition and 6.5 percent had severe acute malnutrition, which is life-threatening.
The situation is also deteriorating in other parts of the country. At the health center of the Kule refugee camp, in the Gambella region, the number of children under five being treated for severe malnutrition by MSF teams has almost doubled. In 2022, MSF teams took in an average of 44 children per month; so far in 2023 this has risen to 86 children per month.
Getting enough to eat is a particular challenge for refugees, including about 400,000 people from South Sudan in the Gambella region. Due to their refugee status, they cannot earn an income and are dependent on aid. Many are forced to reduce their already inadequate nutrition.
“Reduced dietary intake increases the risk of malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, such as anemia, and weakens their immune systems,” said Samreen Hussain, MSF medical coordinator. “With low vaccination coverage, increased malnutrition increases the risk of contracting infectious diseases such as measles and cholera, with many regions of Ethiopia experiencing outbreaks.”
The Somali region of Ethiopia is of particular concern because it has the most children under the age of five with acute malnutrition and also has one of the lowest vaccination rates for many diseases.
MSF calls on all stakeholders to take immediate action to address the needs of the most at-risk communities through targeted food distributions, and to urgently resume full and regular food distributions, while improving communication about when and where the distributions will take place.
“We are already seeing that the food shortage is forcing vulnerable communities into harmful coping mechanisms, including the sale of assets to replace food, begging and child labor,” Hussain said. “This situation will only get worse with a prolonged suspension of food aid.”
MSF has been working in Ethiopia for 37 years, providing medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics or disasters, or with limited access to health care, in collaboration with Ethiopian authorities at local, regional and national levels. We have been providing kala azar care for over 20 years, including our dedicated kala azar and snakebite project in Abdurafi, Amhara, and through emergency interventions. All our activities are guided by the humanitarian principles of humanity, independence, neutrality and impartiality.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
This press release is issued by APO. The content is not checked by the African Business editors and none of the content has been checked or validated by our editors, proofreaders or fact-checkers. The publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is calling for an immediate resumption of food distribution
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