Ethiopia, malnourished, fragile children and now also exposed to the risk of contracting cholera or measles

ROME – A serious cholera epidemic is affecting some areas of Ethiopia – complaint Save the Children – and the data is already worrying. In fact, there have been over a thousand reported cases, including almost thirty deaths, since September 2022. ONE million people, mainly among the most fragile children, are at risk of falling ill. In the country, 357 new cases of measles and six deaths were also reported in the last week of January alone, according to estimates released by local health authorities.

The fatal combination. A combination of severe water shortages, drought and poor sanitation is causing an outbreak of cholera in Ethiopia. Most people are forced to use the countryside as latrines and the lack of water treatment infrastructure drives Ethiopians to use river water for drinking and cooking. Health authorities have pointed out that more than 80 percent of patients currently hospitalized for cholera have consumed river water. In Ethiopia, more than 13 million people, including 6.8 million children, need clean water.

The rainy season. Last month Save the Children he said consecutive droughts caused by five failed rainy seasons have left 12 million Ethiopians grappling with hunger as conflict and internal displacement caused by climate change exacerbate the food crisis across the country. Nearly four million children in Ethiopia are severely malnourished, making up half of the people suffering from malnutrition in the entire Horn of Africa. A new rainy season will arrive in April but unfortunately the weather indicators suggest that rainfall will be scarce again this year.

Hodan’s story. Hodan lives with her husband and four children in the Somali region. Her husband is currently working as a farm laborer in the village after being forced out of sheep farming due to drought. In the last four months – she told Save the Children – Hodan has lost 3 goats and 3 camels which were the only source of income and nourishment for her family. Hodan has a one and a half year old daughter, Ayaan, who is now hospitalized in a center run by Save the Children, the Kelafo Health Center, due to an acute form of malnutrition. “I am unable to feed my children due to drought and we have no money. We used to keep animals but lost them all. My daughter has been sick for a month. When I saw that the little girl was getting worse I decided to take her to the nearest health facility where they are giving her life saving drugs,” she said.

The data. In mid-January, eighteen children suffering from severe malnutrition were hospitalized at the Kelafo Health Center, three more children than in January 2022: a sufficient number to tell of the worsening living conditions in Ethiopia. “We know that children like Ayaan are particularly susceptible to cholera and measles during dry spells because malnutrition lowers the body’s defenses, making them more vulnerable to disease and its complications. In Ethiopia, more than two-thirds of cholera sufferers are children. We are concerned because most of those who have died of cholera are children under the age of 14 and 25 percent were under the age of five. We need to provide food, water and sanitation to the affected communities to avoid the worst,” explained Xavier Joubert, Director of Save the Children in Ethiopia.

Save the Children in Ethiopia. Save the Children has been working in Ethiopia for over sixty years and was among the first to respond to the humanitarian crisis in the Oromia and Somalia regions. The work of the organization is mainly related to health care and nutrition, as well as the provision of clean water, sanitation, educational support and cash distributions for the most vulnerable children. In 2022, Save the Children reached more than seven million people by providing them with food, water and treatment for malnutrition. Save the Children has been operating in Ethiopia for over 60 years and was among the first responders to the humanitarian crisis resulting from the conflict in Northern Ethiopia, continuing humanitarian assistance to the protracted humanitarian crises in the Oromia and Somalia regions. The organization’s work is strongly anchored in health and nutrition, as well as life-saving water and sanitation, protective services, educational support, and cash and in-kind distributions to the most vulnerable children and their families. In 2022, Save the Children reached 7,574,882 people, including 5,140,968 children, through lifesaving food, water distribution, malnutrition treatment and other services.