People are in a “terrible” situation in the Ethiopian Tigray: head of the WHO | New conflicts

The Tigray region, plagued by conflict in Ethiopia, is experiencing a dire situation with people starving to death, with health services being destroyed and “violence” being reported, according to the head of the regional World Health Organization.

“The situation in Tigray (Ethiopia), if I use one word, is horrible. Very horrible, ”WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to Tigray in November after he was accused of directing attacks on federal army camps in the once-dominant regional governing party.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy claimed victory that month when the army entered the regional capital Mekelle.

But fighting continues and the six-month conflict has been denounced by massacres and rapes by Ethiopian forces and troops around Eritrea.

Tedros said about five million people in the region are in need of humanitarian assistance, and especially food aid.

“A lot of people are starting to die, actually because of hunger, and severe and acute malnutrition is on the rise,” he said.

In addition, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced, including more than 60,000 who have fled to Sudan.

At the same time, he said health services have been stolen and destroyed, adding that “most are not working.”

Access to support

The WHO leader also condemned indiscriminate killings and the widespread use of sexual violence in the conflict.

“The rape is widespread. I don’t think that scale was anywhere else in the world, really, ”he said.

Asked about his condition COVID-19 in his hometown, Tedros said there is no service to control the disease, but said it is not a priority given the other crises.

“Most of the time, we’re not even in a position to discuss COVID, actually because there are urgent issues.”

One of the most serious problems to be addressed is access to and support for humanitarian workers.

World leaders and aid agencies have repeatedly called for full humanitarian access to areas affected by the crisis, as fears of the catastrophe are growing.

On Friday, the European Union condemned the region’s continued blockade of aid, accusing it of “using humanitarian aid as a weapon of war”.

WHO Emergency Management Director Michael Ryan warned on Monday that “access to Tigray victims remains unpredictable.”

This, he said, was creating a “tremendous barrier to accessing populations that need our help”.

Risks of occurrences

With most health facilities destroyed, the UN health agency was tasked with increasing the risks of cholera, measles and other outbreaks, he said.

“We also have trouble continuing to receive (cholera) vaccines,” he noted, stressing the need to include “those doses in there” and to organize vaccines to “prevent the cholera disaster”.

The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry on Monday dismissed concerns about getting aid.

“There were difficulties in accessing some pocket sites due to security issues, but it has now been rectified,” the ministry said in a statement.

“That’s why it’s pointless for some partners to continue to deplore the lack of access despite the situation on the ground.”

The statement also pledged that the government was committed to investigating human rights violations and denounced “unjust and unjust allegations against Ethiopia,” without mentioning Tedros.