Hounde, Jul 28: Coronavirus and its restrictions are pushing already hungry communities over the edge, killing an estimated 10,000 more young children a month as meager farms are cut off from markets and villages are isolated from food and medical aid, the United Nations warned Monday.
In the call to action shared with The Associated Press ahead of publication, four UN agencies warned that growing malnutrition would have long-term consequences, transforming individual tragedies into a generational catastrophe.
Hunger is already stalking Haboue Solange Boue, an infant from Burkina Faso who lost half her former body weight of 5.5 pounds (2.5 kilograms) in just a month. Coronavirus restrictions closed the markets, and her family sold fewer vegetables. Her mother was too malnourished to nurse.
“My child,” Danssanin Lanizou whispered, choking back tears as she unwrapped a blanket to reveal her baby's protruding ribs.
More than 550,000 additional children each month are being struck by what is called wasting, according to the UN — malnutrition that manifests in spindly limbs and distended bellies. Over a year, that's up 6.7 million from last year's total of 47 million. Wasting and stunting can permanently damage children physically and mentally.
“The food security effects of the COVID crisis are going to reflect many years from now,” said Dr. Francesco Branca, the WHO head of nutrition. “There is going to be a societal effect.”
From Latin America to South Asia to sub-Saharan Africa, more poor families than ever are staring down a future without enough food.
In April, World Food Program head David Beasley warned that the coronavirus economy would cause global famines “of biblical proportions” this year. There are different stages of what is known as food insecurity; famine is officially declared when, along with other measures, 30% of the population suffers from wasting.
The World Food Program estimated in February that one Venezuelan in three was already going hungry, as inflation rendered salaries nearly worthless and forced millions to flee abroad. Then the virus arrived.
“Every day we receive a malnourished child,” said Dr. Francisco Nieto, who works in a hospital in the border state of Tachira.
In May, Nieto recalled, after two months of quarantine, 18-month-old twins arrived with bodies bloated from malnutrition. The children's mother was jobless and living with her own mother. She told the doctor she fed them only a simple drink made with boiled bananas.
“Not even a cracker? Some chicken?” he asked.
“Nothing,” the children's grandmother responded. By the time the doctor saw them, it was too late: One boy died eight days later.
The leaders of four international agencies — the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization — have called for at least dollar 2.4 billion immediately to address global hunger.
But even more than lack of money, restrictions on movement have prevented families from seeking treatment, said Victor Aguayo, the head of UNICEF's nutrition program.
“By having schools closed, by having primary health care services disrupted, by having nutritional programs dysfunctional, we are also creating harm,” Aguayo said. He cited as an example the near-global suspension of Vitamin A supplements, which are a crucial way to bolster developing immune systems.
In Afghanistan, movement restrictions prevent families from bringing their malnourished children to hospitals for food and aid just when they need it most. The Indira Gandhi hospital in the capital, Kabul, has seen only three or four malnourished children, said specialist Nematullah Amiri. Last year, there were 10 times as many.
Because the children don't come in, there's no way to know for certain the scale of the problem, but a recent study by Johns Hopkins University indicated an additional 13,000 Afghans younger than 5 could die.
Afghanistan is now in a red zone of hunger, with severe childhood malnutrition spiking from 690,000 in January to 780,000 — a 13% increase, according to UNICEF.
In Yemen, restrictions on movement have blocked aid distribution, along with the stalling of salaries and price hikes. The Arab world's poorest country is suffering further from a fall in remittances and a drop in funding from humanitarian agencies.
Yemen is now on the brink of famine, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, which uses surveys, satellite data and weather mapping to pinpoint places most in need.
Some of the worst hunger still occurs in sub-Saharan Africa. In Sudan, 9.6 million people live from one meal to the next — a 65% increase from the same time last year.
Lockdowns across Sudanese provinces, as around the world, have dried up work and incomes for millions. With inflation hitting 136%, prices for basic goods have more than tripled.
“It has never been easy but now we are starving, eating grass, weeds, just plants from the earth,” said Ibrahim Youssef, director of the Kalma camp for internally displaced people in war-ravaged south Darfur.
Adam Haroun, an official in the Krinding camp in west Darfur, recorded nine deaths linked with malnutrition, otherwise a rare occurrence, over the past two months — five newborns and four older adults, he said.
Before the pandemic and lockdown, the Abdullah family ate three meals a day, sometimes with bread, or they'd add butter to porridge. Now they are down to just one meal of “millet porridge” — water mixed with grain. Zakaria Yehia Abdullah, a farmer now at Krinding, said the hunger is showing “in my children's faces.”
“I don't have the basics I need to survive,” said the 67-year-old, who who hasn't worked the fields since April. “That means the 10 people counting on me can't survive either.”
The book written by one of the founders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 1946 is now being re-issued by a Mumbai-based right-wing trust.
Comments
I'm a Christian Anglo-Saxon, and I find the idea of this book to be wonderful. For me, it is beautiful to envision Jesus kneeling down to worship Lord Shiva. It is not disrespectful to Jesus at all to believe this - it shows that he was a reverent and faithful believer. As a Christian, I can understand why the people who wrote the Bible might have wanted to cover up certain aspects of Jesus's life. I love the idea of Jesus and his followers uniting with the Indian people in a shared religious heritage.
its not fully acceptable but some of them are true in that book
To increase bjp vote banks they are trying to include Christians under their belt. Like they says jains, , buddist and sikhs are the part of Hindu religion. Which is totally wrong. No jains , budhist, Sikhs, worships Hindu gods.
Writer used to write stories for ram gopal verma. After the flop of RGV sholay remake version of Aag, writer lost his job and published books on jesus to earn money for his livelihood.
thank god he dint say bible was written by waalmiki.
If Savarkar's brother's thinking was so skewed, just imagine how skewed was Savarkar's thinking??? Bade mian tho bade mian, chotay mian subhanallah!!
Dear BABARAO
Kindly give your Script to Sanjay Lila Bansali (SLB).so that he can Make a Comedy Film base on your Script.We will recommend SLB to introduce Subramania Swami as the HERO of this Movie.
Stop playing with the feeling of Christian And Muslim Who respect Jesus Christ.It wont suite for your (RSS) Stupid Idiology.I thought some one will be there among you will certain amount of So called Common sense But where ???? All Same.
GROW UP DUDE
Yes, this is correct. Everyone in the world are Hindus as Hinduis is the only true religion. All the countries around the world were ruled by Hindu kings. white house was vishnu temple, israel knesste was Ram Mandir, Vatican was sita mandir, Bejing was capital of Shiva, tokyo was rest room of Lakshmi, Australia was ruled over by vishnu, Africa was governed by Krishna. Veer Sarkar fore father was ambassador of all the gods and he was travelling in the air without plane.
Really it was good joke... cant stop laughing...he should be awarded with Nobel Prize.... God Bless him ...
Bullet train 2000 KMH
Please don't release that book and cause one more imbalance in the community.Tired of seeing killing people in the name of 'GOD' - GOD is just a Invisible Power, nothing else other than this ,we have given him different forms and name and to relieve our mind from stress and to share thoughts n desire we created a god.Once you purge something from mind you will feel relieved.
#NoWarKnowPeace
we are in the Lent season only i can say is
\Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing\""
all the jokes in book is good and the best one is Jesus was Tamilian and his complexion was dark.....OHH brothers jesus was very fair and lovely prophet of islam.
why all chaddi leaders at last becomes mad ?
ha......ha....
Tomorrow he will say Washington was a hindu land and White house was Shiva temple.....and Obama was a Tamil Brahmin....
Please book a seat for him in Kankanady..........ha...ha...
Whatever, ultimately he proved that Brahmins were Non veg eaters, especially beef & pork. And even they can consume alcohol.
Now Subramanya swamy may link his family tree to Jesus christ.
BED TIME STORIES......
loughing of the day from RSS yeak yeak yeak
The RSS creatures spreading their wings to the community of Christians and provoking them. These unknown writers RSS have free time for frictions and fabricate. Earlier they were targeting Tajmahal as Tej Mahal, built by RSS king Tej singh. Kutub Minar built by their RSS king Shaktisena so on. And they are spreading romours that the black stone at Haram, Makkah, as Shiva Linga etc.
They have plans to rewrite the history of India for their needs, in many schools run by them are teaching hate history of India, that's the reason they are in collusion with HRD ministry do innovations.
Damm it RSS.
HAA HAA HAA HAA HAA HAA HAA HAA HAA HAA HAA HAA HAA........
Help I can't stop, I think i will go to hospital, My stomach is getting pain.
HAA HAA HAA............................................HAA HAA
This book is the ultimate proof irreparable idiocy/ stupidity of RSS.
Secondly, how the publishers and printers printed it ?
This community will never improve nor succeed, they continue battling until their stupid community remain at large.
We all respect many Hindus, most of them are indeed good.
but this disproportionate venomous creatures spoiling names of good Hindus.
Indeed Hinduism has become a culture, not a religion.
Jusus Peace be upon him was Jewish, he was born in Palestine,
He has no relation whatsoever with man made religion the Hinduism. He was not Tamil, nor Brahmin,
He was miraculously born without father to his mother the Maryam may God be pleased with all of these. He was against wrong belief of plural God. Hinduism has highest number of Gods than its followers. Where as worshipping plural God is totally against true religions of God like Islam and Christianity.
bm3qd
Jesus is one of the mightiest Prophets sent by ALLAH to the face of the earth. If any Muslim does not believe in Jesus pbuh then he is not a MUSLIM.
QURAN explain on all prophetS of God:
Say (O Muslim) \We believe in ALLAH and that which has been sent down to us and that which has been sent down to Abraham, Ismail, Ishaque, Jacob, and to Al-Asbat and that which has been given to Moses and JESUS and that which has been given to the prophets from their LORD. We make no DISTINCTION between any of them and to him we have Submitted (in ISLAM) (Quran - chapter 2 : 136)
The devils which is also a creation of ALLAH will try to claim thru LIES and DECEPTION... But ALLAH says never fear the devils and seek help from HIM. Devils are smart in LIES and Cheddis are following his agenda. which will take them together to HELL which will be eternal...
Those who support such ideology of destruction should learn about ALLAH and his creation the Shaitan from the jinns who has been FOOLING people who are far from the TRUTH>"
RSS PLEASE GIVE US BASE FOR HINDU RELIGION .,...
Hahahaha...many more things to come till Modi in throne, my dear christian brothers don't get exited. All nuts and bolts of sanghis are removed...HAHHAHHAAH
Hellow Christian bhai Wake up and Answer them...........................
how u came to know now. good u came from rss university?
Jesus is not a GOD not Hindu but He is Messenger of Allah
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