A hunger for action — More than 13·6 million children under 5 years have severe acute malnutrition

The Global Report on Food Crises 2022, shows a worsening situation in 2021, with almost 180 million people in food crisis in 39 countries and territories, doubling from 94 million in 2016


The Lancet
EDITORIAL
| VOLUME 399, ISSUE 10340, P1991
MAY 28, 2022


The basic nutritional needs of children are at grave risk. Worldwide, more than 13·6 million children under 5 years have severe acute malnutrition, a serious wasting condition associated with poverty and prolonged insufficient access to food.


Severe acute malnutrition weakens children’s immunity, resulting in repeated rounds of diarrhoea and other infections, such as measles and malaria
, and accounts for a fifth of deaths in this age group. 

In an alert released on May 17, UNICEF warned that over 10 million of these children do not have access to ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), considered the most effective treatment for severe acute malnutrition. 

UNICEF says that the price of RUTF is projected to increase by up to 16% over the next 6 months due to a rise in the cost of raw ingredients and delivery. 

An additional 600 000 children will be left without access. 

Against the backdrop of wider global food insecurity, geopolitical tensions, and economic precariousness, it is unclear who will act to protect them.


An additional 600 000 children will be left without access.

Against the backdrop of wider global food insecurity, geopolitical tensions, and economic precariousness, it is unclear who will act to protect them.


The Global Report on Food Crises 2022, published on May 4, shows a worsening situation in 2021, with almost 180 million people in food crisis in 39 countries and territories, doubling from 94 million in 2016


The report forecasts that the situation will persist or even deteriorate in 2022. 

Food insecurity is exacerbated by economic shocks reverberating from the COVID-19 pandemic, while climate change-associated weather extremes further aggravate food shortages and displace people. 

Conflict is also a driver. Ukraine, one of the world’s top producers of corn, wheat, and barley, has been forced to reduce its exports drastically after the Russian invasion, with devastating effects on wellbeing and health. 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has described millions of people in food insecurity “followed by malnutrition, mass hunger and famine, in a crisis that could last for years”. 

World Bank president David Malpass has warned of a “human catastrophe”. 

The effects will be felt worst in countries that rely heavily on imported grain to support their already fragile food systems, such as Somalia, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Sudan. 

The Russian Government is responsible not only for the atrocities in Ukraine, but also these far-reaching harms.


Aside from one item focused on iodine deficiency disorders, the agenda for the 75th World Health Assembly, on May 22–28, reflects a notable lack of appreciation that a sufficient supply of nutritious food is integral to sustaining health. 


Severe acute malnutrition is a visible symptom of dysfunctional, unequal societies. 

Food is a basic human right, yet we are at a dangerous juncture where any gains made through increased research and nutritional technology are being offset by a compounding cycle of food crises. 

The result is a threat to the health of millions of children. 


As pointed out in the Lancet Series on Optimising Child and Adolescent Health and Development, the 1000 days from conception to 2 years of age are crucial for human flourishing and the formation of future human capital. 


Not just an individual’s economic potential, but their health, wellbeing, knowledge, and interpersonal and socioemotional skills needed to fulfil their individual and societal potential. 

The negative impact of today’s childhood malnutrition will be felt for decades to come. 

The first three Sustainable Development Goals: no poverty, zero hunger, and good health and wellbeing, are intimately connected and must be tackled together.


Food is a basic human right, yet we are at a dangerous juncture where any gains made through increased research and nutritional technology are being offset by a compounding cycle of food crises.


This might feel like an overwhelmingly complex task, but for severe acute malnutrition, the immediate need is simple — money, now. 


UNICEF calls for an additional US$300 million in annual funding, so that every child with severe acute malnutrition in the 22 Global Action Plan for Child Wasting countries can be treated. 

Financing for severe acute malnutrition treatment relies heavily on donors’ official development assistance (ODA), yet the proportion of aid spending on severe acute malnutrition was only 0·2% of total ODA in 2019. 

Funding for humanitarian food assistance has been falling since 2017, made worse because of global economic decline and competing domestic priorities in donor countries. 

Except for Germany, none of the top donors to ODA (the USA, Japan, France, and the UK) meet the UN-recommended contribution level of 0·7% gross national income

When the warnings have been so clear, it will be a collective moral failure if severe acute malnutrition is allowed to continue. 

In the midst of an economic squeeze and a cost-of-living crisis, countries must remember their international obligations.


This might feel like an overwhelmingly complex task, but for severe acute malnutrition, the immediate need is simple — money, now.


UNICEF calls for an additional US$300 million in annual funding, so that every child with severe acute malnutrition in the 22 Global Action Plan for Child Wasting countries can be treated.


Originally published at https://www.thelancet.com


Names mentioned

UN Secretary-General António Guterres

World Bank president David Malpass 




ORIGINAL PUBLICATION

Global Report on Food Crises — 2022

The 2022 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC 2022) highlights the remarkably high severity and numbers of people in Crisis or worse (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) or equivalent in 53 countries/territories, driven by persistent conflict, pre-existing and COVID-19-related economic shocks, and weather extremes. The number identified in the 2022 edition is the highest in the report’s six-year existence. The report is produced by the Global Network against Food Crises (which includes WFP), an international alliance working to address the root causes of extreme hunger.


Originally published at https://www.wfp.org



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