WHO: 3.5 million people in Ethiopia are at risk of cholera and 6 million are at risk of malaria

Tariq Jasarevic, a spokesman for the World Health Organization, said that the organization is deeply concerned about the possibilities of cholera, measles and malaria outbreaks in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, which is also located on the meningitis belt and is at risk of an outbreak of yellow fever, noting that hospitals are barely working, and famine is looming, while The lack of food, clean water, and access to health care makes the danger very real, and all these factors together are a recipe for larger epidemics.

And the spokesman warned - at a press conference in Geneva today, Tuesday, that people are also at risk of death due to the lack of access to health services to treat other health conditions, pointing out that access to affected areas is still very limited, which makes expanding the health response more difficult even as the increasing The needs of the population, especially for the most vulnerable groups, including children, women and internally displaced persons.

Gestrevich pointed out that an estimated 3.5 million people are at risk of contracting cholera and 6 million are at risk of contracting malaria, stressing that child mortality can increase due to malaria to three times.

A spokesman for the International Organization noted the launch of a cholera vaccination campaign targeting more than 2 million people with 4 million doses of vaccine.

The spokesman explained that the campaign is able to reach one million people only, especially with the difficulty of reaching the population by roads, in addition to the fact that they are on the move due to the change in the security situation, as well as the great impact of the conflict on health care with looting and destruction of facilities, damage to the cold chain for storing vaccines and the inability of workers Health workers to work because of the conflict in the region.