Hundreds of children have died in nutrition centers across Somalia, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday. The statement comes a day after the global body warned that parts of the African country will be hit by famine in the coming months.
The Horn of Africa region is on track for the fifth consecutive season of low rainfall. The 2011 famine in Somalia claimed more than 250,000 lives, most of them children.
“About 730 children died in food and nutrition centers across the country between January and July this year, but the numbers could be higher as many deaths go unreported,” said Wafaa Saeed, UNICEF representative in Somalia, in a statement. press conference in Geneva.
The centers are aimed at children with severe acute malnutrition as well as other complications such as measles, cholera or malaria, and are considered just a snapshot of the situation across the country.
“We don’t know the full picture. I met many, many families whose children died on the way (to the centres),” said Victor Chinyama, a spokesman for Unicef in Mogadishu.
UNICEF said disease outbreaks are increasing among children, with around 13,000 suspected measles cases reported in recent months, of which 78% were children under five.
Source: CNN Brasil
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