H5N1

Madagascar families 'eating mud' in worst drought

Via BBC News: Madagascar families 'eating mud' in worst drought.

The World Food Programme is warning that the worst drought in southern Madagascar for four decades is causing hunger and famine-like conditions. 

Its director, David Beasley, who has just visited the region, said that without immediate assistance more than half a million people would soon be "knocking on famine's door", with another 800,000 marching towards it. 

He said he was shocked by what he had seen in southern Madagascar – children who were just skin and bones, families eating mud and the fruit of cacti because there was nothing else. 

He called it a silent tragedy in a forgotten location. 

The crisis was being driven by climate change, with drought after drought forcing families to leave their homes, through no fault of their own, Mr Beasley said. 

He said wealthy nations had a moral obligation to help.

World Food Programme says it needs $6.8 billion over next six months to avert famine

Via Reuters: World Food Programme says needs $6.8 billion over next six months to avert famine. Excerpt:

LONDON (Reuters) - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) will need to raise$6.8 billion over the next six months to avert famine amid the COVID-19 crisis, the agency said on Tuesday. 

The WFP, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week for its efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict, said it had so far raised $1.6 billion. 

“We’ve got a lot more money to raise to make certain we avert famine,” David Beasley, executive director of the WFP, said at a conference organised by the U.N’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). 

Beaseley noted that 7 million people had died from hunger this year as the COVID-19 pandemic, which could double hunger worldwide, claimed a further 1 million lives. 

“If we don’t sort out COVID, (the) hunger death rate could be 3, 4, 5 times that,” said Beaseley. 

The Rome-based WFP says it helps some 97 million people in about 88 countries each year, and that one in nine people worldwide still do not have enough to eat. 

After declining for several decades, world hunger has been on the rise again since 2016, driven by the twin scourges of conflict and climate change.

World Food Programme awarded Nobel Peace Prize

Via the World Food Programme: World Food Programme awarded Nobel Peace Prize Statement by WFP Executive Director David Beasley.

ROME – The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the World Food Programme (WFP) is a humbling, moving recognition of the work of WFP staff who lay their lives on the line every day to bring food and assistance for close to 100 million hungry children, women and men across the world. People whose lives are often brutally torn apart by instability, insecurity and conflict. 

Every one of the 690 million hungry people in the world today has the right to live peacefully and without hunger. Today, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has turned the global spotlight on them and on the devastating consequences of conflict. Climate shocks and economic pressures have further compounded their plight. And now, a global pandemic with its brutal impact on economies and communities, is pushing millions more to the brink of starvation. 

The Nobel Peace Prize is not WFP’s alone.  We work closely with government, organizations and private sector partners whose passion for helping the hungry and vulnerable equals ours. We could not possibly help anyone without them. We are an operational agency and the daily work of our staff each day is driven by our core values of integrity, humanity and inclusion.  

Where there is conflict, there is hunger. And where there is hunger, there is often conflict. Today is a reminder that food security, peace and stability go together. Without peace, we cannot achieve our global goal of zero hunger; and while there is hunger, we will never have a peaceful world.

COVID-19 will almost double acute hunger by end of 2020

Via the UN's World Food Programme: COVID-19 will almost double acute hunger by end of 2020. Excerpt:

The COVID-19 pandemic will see more than a quarter of a billion people suffering acute hunger by the end of the year, according to new figures from the World Food Programme (WFP). 

Latest numbers indicate the lives and livelihoods of 265 million people in low and middle-income countries will be under severe threat unless swift action is taken to tackle the pandemic, up from a current 135 million. 

That is nearly double the number in the newly published Global Report on Food Crises 2020, which estimates that 135 million people in 55 countries currently face acute hunger as a result chiefly of conflict, the effects of climate change, and economic crises. That report was drawn up prior to the emergence of COVID-19 as a pandemic, and the contrasting figures provide a startling insight into the devastating potential of this virus. 

Concern is highest for those in countries across Africa as well as the Middle East, as the virus threatens lives and livelihoods along with the trading networks they rely on for survival. 

“These new projections show the scale of the catastrophe we are facing,” warned WFP chief economist Arif Husain. “We must make sure that tens of millions of people already on the verge of starvation do not succumb to this virus or to its economic consequences in terms of loss of jobs and incomes. 

“Just like in developed nations, governments are doing all they can to assist their people. We need to do the same for tens of millions of people.” 

The greatest worry is for people living in conflict zones and those forced from their homes and into refugee camps, with countries of concern including northeastern Nigeria, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen. 

“These are the people I’m most worried about,” said Husain. “They did not need COVID-19. Even without it their lives were hanging by a thread. They literally depend on us for their lives. If we cannot get to them for any reason they end up paying the ultimate price. We need to prioritize the people and make sure we’re there. Because if it’s not us, it’s no one else.”

Once the breadbasket of Africa, Zimbabwe now on brink of man-made starvation, UN rights expert warns

Via the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, a warning about a story far graver than Ebola: Once the breadbasket of Africa, Zimbabwe now on brink of man-made starvation, UN rights expert warns. Excerpt and then another link:

GENEVA / HARARE (28 November 2019) - Despite the constitutional protection of the right to food and a sophisticated set of human-rights based national laws and policies, man-made starvation is slowly making its way in Zimbabwe, said the UN expert of the right to food after visiting the country from 18 to 28 November 2019.  

"More than 60% of the population of a country once seen as the breadbasket of Africa is now considered food-insecure, with most households unable to obtain enough food to meet basic needs due to hyperinflation," said Hilal Elver, Special Rapporteur on the right to food, presenting a preliminary statement at the end of an 11-day visit. 

"In rural areas, a staggering 5.5 million people are currently facing food insecurity, as poor rains and erratic weather patterns are impacting harvests and livelihoods. In urban areas, an estimated 2.2 million people are food-insecure and lack access to minimum public services, including health and safe water.  

"These are shocking figures and the crisis continues to worsen due to poverty and high unemployment, widespread corruption, severe price instabilities, lack of purchasing power, poor agricultural productivity, natural disasters, recurrent droughts and unilateral economic sanctions." 

Elver said women and children were bearing the brunt of the crisis. 

"The majority of the children I met were stunted and underweight," she said. "Child deaths from severe malnutrition have been rising in the past few months. 90 % of Zimbabwean children aged six months to two years are not consuming the minimum acceptable diet.  

"I saw the ravaging effects of malnutrition on infants deprived of breast feeding because of their own mothers' lack of access to adequate food. 

"In a desperate effort to find alternative means of livelihood, some women and children are resorting to coping mechanisms that violate their most fundamental human rights and freedoms. As a result, school drop-outs, early marriage, domestic violence, prostitution and sexual exploitation are on the rise throughout Zimbabwe."  

Elver said people she met in the drought-affected areas of Masvingo and Mwenezi, located in the driest regions of the country, told her they ate only one portion of cooked maize a day. Women, the elderly and children are barely able to meet their minimum food needs and are largely dependent on food assistance, while most of the men are abroad seeking work, she added. 

"Without access to a diversified and nutritious diet, rural Zimbabweans, particularly younger children, barely survive," she said, adding that the agricultural and food system needs immediate reform.  

"I strongly urge the Government to take the necessary measures to reduce the country's dependence on imported food, particularly maize, and to support alternative wheats to diversify the diet. The Government should create the conditions for the production of traditional seeds to ensure the country's self-sufficiency and preparedness for the climate shocks that hit the country." 

The Special Rapporteur said the crisis in Zimbabwe's cities was no less severe than in rural areas.

"I witnessed some of the devastating consequences of the acute economic crisis in the streets of Harare, with people waiting for hours on long lines in front of gas stations, banks, and water dispensaries," she said. 

"The Zimbabweans I spoke to in Harare and its suburbs explained that even if food was widely available in markets, the erosion of their incomes combined with an inflation skyrocketing to over 490%, made them suffer from food insecurity, also impacting the middle-class. 

Elver also said that she received "disturbing" information that public hospitals have been reaching out to humanitarian organizations after their own medicine and food stocks were exhausted.  

Elver also received indication that the distribution of lands or food had been manipulated for political ends throughout the last two decades, favoring those who support the ruling political party. 

"I call on the Government of Zimbabwe to live up to its zero hunger commitment without any discrimination," Elver said.

Meanwhile, The Zimbabwean reports striking doctors say poor conditions in hospitals are causing a "silent genocide":

The senior doctors described the situation at the country’s hospitals as a silent genocide, saying doctors are forced to work without basics such as bandages, gloves, and syringes.

“We have watched the past few months as the situation in our hospitals continues to deteriorate.

“In March this year, the situation in hospitals deteriorated to the point where there were no bandages, gloves, and syringes available forcing senior doctors to highlight the dire situation publicly. It is important to find out why this has taken so long to be resolved as a silent genocide continues to be perpetrated upon the people of Zimbabwe,” the statement said.

Tilapia, a fish to feed the world, and the deadly virus that may destroy it

Via the South China Morning Post: Tilapia, a fish to feed the world, and the deadly virus that may destroy it. Excerpt and then a comment:

A small African fish called the tilapia may be vital for meeting the future food needs of humanity, according to scientists, but they are also concerned that a killer disease discovered in recent years could wipe out the species. That, they warn, would have devastating social and economic consequences for China and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region. 

Although its name may not be widely known, the freshwater tilapia is second only to carp as the world’s most widely farmed fish, and China is the largest producer. With global production of farmed tilapia reaching 6.3 million tonnes in 2018 and an estimated market value of US$9.8 billion, the little fish is big business. That’s because it is an essential source of protein, revenue and employment in the developing world. 

An advantage of farming tilapia was once its resistance to disease, which is a constant problem in intensive fish farming. But a new virus has caught the industry off guard. Tilapia lake virus, or Tilapia tilapinevirus, was identified in 2014. 

Scientists know little more about it, except that it has a morbidity rate of up to 90 per cent, depending on the strain, and is highly contagious. The first indication of the virus on a fish farm is lots of dead tilapia. 

“It’s definitely alarming,” says Mohan Chadag, principal scientist (aquaculture) for World Fish, an international non-profit organisation that supports fishing and aquaculture research, and is headquartered in Penang, Malaysia. 

The tilapia lake virus was discovered in Israel and Ecuador. It has since been reported in 12 other nations and regions, including many in Asia: Thailand (2015), Indonesia and India (2016), the Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan (2017). Mexico reported its first cases in 2018.

Widely regarded as the “poor man’s fish”, tilapia grows quickly, and worldwide production is almost double that of Atlantic salmon. It has rapidly become a vital source of cheap protein for growing populations in the developing world as wild fish stocks dwindle. 

About 42 per cent of all fish the world consumes is farmed, and that proportion is set to rise to more than 50 per cent within a decade, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. 

Tilapia is key to this growth, and it’s not just poor nations that eat it – it’s the fourth most consumed fish in the United States.

Tilapia production is undertaken in 87 countries and it’s particularly big business in Asia, which produces more than 70 per cent of the total. 

China, which so far has not reported a single outbreak of the killer virus, is the world’s top producer, at 1.8 million tonnes in 2016, according to the China Fishery Statistical Yearbook 2017, and has probably risen since. Other major producers include Indonesia, Egypt, Bangladesh, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brazil and Thailand.

I wrote about tilapia in The Tyee back in 2011, when it seemed to be a far better alternative for fish farms in British Columbia than Atlantic salmon; our fish farms have materially damaged the wild stock, but our politicians continue to support them.

At least as alarming is China's reliance on tilapia. African swine fever is already panzootic across China, posing no direct threat to humans but killing almost every pig it infects. (See Mike Coston's Avian Flu Diary for the details: he's recorded its horrifying spread province by province.)

 

If China runs short of protein, we all run short. China can buy what it needs elsewhere in the world, but that could deprive scores of nations around the world by pricing them out of the market, just as England imported tons of food from Ireland in the midst of the potato famine of the 1840s.

 

Food insecurity leads to political insecurity, which inevitably leads to war, population displacement, and yet another demonstration of the "advanced" nations' selfish refusal to be inconvenienced by others' needs.

Disease and famine as weapons of war in Yemen

Via NEJM: Disease and Famine as Weapons of War in Yemen. Bear in mind that the Saudi coalition's war on Yemen marked the rise of Mohamed bin Salman, who is now Crown Prince and unindicted instigator of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Excerpt:

How can the medical community take stock of the humanitarian disaster in Yemen? The 3-year-old war intermittently garners attention from Western media — for example, in August, when an air strike on a school bus killed more than 50 civilians, mostly children — but is woefully underreported relative to the magnitude of the ongoing crisis. Such neglect highlights the numbing of our collective sensitivity to atrocity. 

Although the human toll of any war is dreadful, the infliction of suffering in Yemen has particularly toxic characteristics that we believe demand attention from health care providers worldwide: the destruction of health care facilities and the spread of disease and hunger as apparent means of waging war. A Mobile Phone Tower Destroyed in Sa’ada, July 2018. 

Yemen was beset with widespread poverty and an ailing health care system when this conflict began. Most health indicators ranked in the bottom quartile of the world, with 1 in 25 children not surviving to the age of 5. In March 2015, after the Houthis, a faction based in the north of the country, took over Sana’a (the capital city), a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and supported by the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, launched air strikes in the country to overturn the Houthis. 

In more than 3 years of air strikes, Yemeni hospitals and clinics have continued to be destroyed, both indiscriminately and sometimes apparently deliberately. With access to health care almost entirely eliminated owing to bombings (see photo) and blockades, infections have spread as — at best indirect and at worst direct — weapons of war. 

A massive cholera outbreak is the most obvious example of the devastating impact of the war on health. It is suspected that more than 1.1 million people have had cholera, and at least 2000 people have died from it, nearly 20% of them children under 5 years old. Geospatial patterns of cases of diarrheal disease reveal alignment of the spread of cholera with patterns of aerial bombardment by the Saudi-led coalition. Civilians living in Houthi-held areas had higher cholera attack rates and higher case fatality rates between September 2016 and March 2018 than those in government-held areas. 

The Saudi-led coalition — heavily supported by the United States through munitions sales, military training, and aerial refueling — has bombed both medical facilities and water-treatment centers in these areas. Within the first few months of the war, a major water-treatment plant outside Sana’a was out of operation because its electrical grid had been bombed. Subsequent restriction of fuel imports by a Saudi-led blockade caused the facility to lose all power and become inoperable, according to UNICEF. 

Then the deadly grip of diarrheal disease took hold. Shockingly, water-treatment plants and sewage systems continue to be bombed. UNICEF reports that between March and July 2018, water-treatment facilities in the Sa’ada governorate were repeatedly attacked, which left much of the nearby civilian population without safe drinking water and caused thousands of dollars of damages to water-treatment projects.  

Direct bombardment of medical facilities has triggered the spread of disease and put health care personnel and relief workers in danger since the start of the war. Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) reported that 39 hospitals were bombed during the first 7 months of the conflict despite the fact that they were clearly marked as medical centers and their GPS coordinates had been shared with Saudi authorities. Both MSF and Physicians for Human Rights have reported that assaults on hospitals, mobile clinics, ambulances, and cholera treatment centers continue to occur.

'End war on Yemen's children': conflict escalates around Hodeidah hospital

Via The Guardian: 'End war on Yemen's children': conflict escalates around Hodeidah hospital. Excerpt:

Fighting has intensified around the largest hospital operating in the port city of Hodeidah, preventing access to severely malnourished and vulnerable children, the UN’s children’s agency has warned. 

The escalation in conflict follows US calls for a ceasefire and suggestions that peace talks may be held in Sweden. On Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition said it had attacked Sana’a international airport and an adjoining airbase being used by Houthi insurgents. 

“It’s very clear that, despite the call for talks, and despite the call for an agreement on the cessation of hostilities in the next 30 days, the parties are intensifying the fighting – unfortunately, with an incredible impact on children,” said Geert Cappelaere, Unicef’s regional director for the Middle East and north Africa, speaking from Sana’a.

Cappelaere said the few shipments of crucial medical supplies and food arriving in the port of Hodeidah were regularly blocked, sometimes for months. “Even the humanitarian aid is taken hostage at times. It’s just unacceptable. All parties are carrying responsibility,” said Cappelaere. “The war on children needs to stop.”  

Active fighting is taking place within a few hundred metres of the largest of Hodeidah’s handful of hospitals, according to Cappelaere, who visited the city this week. Families were delaying seeking medical attention because of the hostilities, or because they could not afford the transport costs. 

Hodeidah, which has been hit particularly hard by cholera and acute diarrhoea, was already among the worst places for children in Yemen, Cappelaere said. 

The latest Unicef figures show there are an estimated 1.8 million malnourished children in Yemen. Almost 400,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, which is life-threatening, with four in 10 of such cases in Hodeidah and neighbouring governorates. 

On a visit to Al-Thawra hospital, Cappelaere said he saw the emaciated bodies of acutely malnourished children, as well as several children paralysed by diphtheria, which is preventable by vaccine. Among them was a 10-year-old girl, Sara, who is paralysed from the chest downwards because of the infection.  

“I was just thinking overnight when I heard the shelling happening … What does that mean for that poor girl who is already half-paralysed and who now has to hear all these bombs around her? For what reason? To get a better negotiating position around the table in Sweden?” said Cappelaere. 

It is feared that intensified fighting in Hodeidah would not only have a devastating impact on its population but also cut off food, fuel and medical imports to the rest of the country. Aid agencies have repeatedly warned the conflict is driving Yemen to the brink of the worst famine in living memory.

Yemeni children die as warring sides block aid deliveries

Via Thomson Reuters: Yemeni children die as warring sides block aid deliveries - UNICEF. Excerpt:

Yemeni children are dying from starvation and disease as trucks with life-saving supplies are blocked in port, leaving medical staff and desperate mothers imploring aid workers to do more, a senior U.N. official said. 

Geert Cappelaere, Middle East director for the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), described "heart-breaking" scenes of emaciated children in hospitals in the main port city of Hodeidah and the capital Sanaa, both held by Houthi insurgents.  

"We have evidence that today in Yemen every 10 minutes a child under the age of 5 is dying from preventable diseases and severe acute malnutrition," he told Reuters from Hodeidah.  

The United Nations says about 14 million people, or half Yemen's population, could soon be on the brink of famine in a man-made disaster. 

Already 1.8 million Yemeni children are malnourished, more than 400,000 of them suffering from severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition that leaves them skeletal with muscle wasting, Cappelaere said.  

"But there is more. Many children are dying from vaccine-preventable diseases. Today not more than 40 percent of the children throughout Yemen are being vaccinated," he said.  

Measles, cholera and diphtheria can be deadly for children, especially those under five, and are exacerbated by malnutrition. 

"Because of this brutal war, because of obstacles, obstructions being made, it is unfortunately not possible do much more," Cappelaere said. 

"We may not yet be at the level of a famine but we should not wait until we have declared a famine to step up and to pressure the parties to the conflict to stop this senseless war," he said.  

U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths aims to convene peace talks this month to seek a ceasefire in the three-and-half year war, which pits the Yemeni government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and the Iran-allied Houthi insurgents. 

As Cappelaere spoke, coaltion forces were massing for an assault on Hodeidah. 

 "HEART-BREAKING" 

Seven trucks carrying life-saving medical equipment and medicines had been blocked at Hodeidah port for two weeks awaiting clearance after being off-loaded, Cappelaere said.  

"It was heart-breaking that an hour before I was sitting at al-Thwara hospital, and I have all the doctors, all the medical staff pleading with me to get more medical supplies, to get more medicines," he said. 

A UNICEF spokeswoman said the trucks had been cleared by Houthi authorities on Friday and supplies would be distributed.  

Several extremely malnourished children were in the hospital ward, Cappelaere said.  

"All the mothers were telling me that they are simply missing that small amount of money to transport their children from their communities to the hospital," he said.

Yemen girl who turned world’s eyes to famine is dead

Credit: Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

Via The New York Times: Yemen Girl Who Turned World’s Eyes to Famine Is Dead. Excerpt and then a comment:

CAIRO — A haunted look in the eyes of Amal Hussain, an emaciated 7-year-old lying silently on a hospital bed in northern Yemen, seemed to sum up the dire circumstances of her war-torn country. 

A searing portrait of the starving girl published in The New York Times last week drew an impassioned response from readers. They expressed heartbreak. They offered money for her family. They wrote in to ask if she was getting better.  

On Thursday, Amal’s family said she had died at a ragged refugee camp four miles from the hospital.  

“My heart is broken,” said her mother, Mariam Ali, who wept during a phone interview. “Amal was always smiling. Now I’m worried for my other children.”

The grievous human cost of the Saudi-led war in Yemen has jumped to the top of the global agenda as the outcry over the killing of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi prompts Western leaders to re-examine their support for the war.

Recently, the United States and Britain, Saudi Arabia’s biggest arms suppliers, called for a cease-fire in Yemen. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said it should take effect within 30 days. “We have got to move toward a peace effort here, and we can’t say we are going to do it some time in the future,” Mr. Mattis said on Tuesday.  

Riveting images of malnourished Yemenis like Amal — one of 1.8 million severely malnourished children in Yemen — have put a human face to fears that a catastrophic man-made famine could engulf the country in the coming months.  

The United Nations warns that the number of Yemenis relying on emergency rations, eight million, could soon rise to 14 million. That’s about half Yemen’s population.  

Aid workers and now political leaders are calling for a cessation of hostilities, as well as emergency measures to revive the battered economy of Yemen, where soaring food prices have pushed millions to the brink.

As I chronicle a small fraction of the children's holocaust we have made of this world, I often think about what this world must seem like to millions of children who come into the world to gain only a glimpse of light and an eternity of pain before they vanish back into nothingness.

Nothingness must be far better.