LONDON (Reuters) – The director general of the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday an additional 10,000 children a month could die this year from malnutrition as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking at a U.N Food and Agriculture (FAO) conference, said he expected a 14% increase this year in children suffering from malnutrition as a result of the pandemic.
This equates to 6.7 million more malnourished children, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia.
“The pandemic has caused serious disruptions to essential services, immunisation, maternal services, child nutrition, family planning and more,” he said.
“We can not accept a world where the rich have access to healthy diets while the poor are left behind,” he added.
(Reporting by Maytaal Angel; Editing by Alex Richardson)
