Sep. 13 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The number of young children between the ages of six and 59 months expected to be acutely malnourished in Somalia has risen 33 percent over the past 11 years, from 386,000 to 513,000 children, the United Nations Fund for Childhood (UNICEF).
According to the organization’s spokesman, James Elder, the Somali minors face extreme conditions as a result of which they are forced to be treated for their illnesses in appalling conditions.
In this context, Elder has warned that “severely malnourished children are up to eleven times more likely to die from diarrhea and measles than those who are well nourished”, two diseases that, they warn, are increasing in a region that is heading towards a famine.
Disease outbreaks have skyrocketed between January and July, with at least 8,400 suspected cases of acute watery diarrhoea/cholera and around 13,000 suspected cases of measles.
Therefore, in view of the numbers of malnutrition and disease plaguing Somalia, UNICEF has advocated “a radical change” to prevent a recurrence of famine, ensuring that donors commit to long-term funding.
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