The Ethiopian boy named ‘Wealthy’ who weighs half what he should
Little Haftom is nearly five years old.As the doctor pulls up his jumper and tracksuit bottoms to show his spindly arms and legs, his mother looks on impassively.This is the daily reality of hunger and malnutrition after two years of civil war in the northern Ethiopia region of Tigray. A peace deal has ended the fighting but the fallout from the conflict remains.
The families of Haftom and Makda have been seeking treatment in Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region. The BBC filmed and interviewed them within the past month. "A lot of children have died in our hospital because once a child has malnutrition, it's not only food you have to give them. They need medication, antibiotics, minerals... and we don't have this."Some of what is needed seems to be arriving but not nearly enough.
"Efforts are being made by all humanitarian actors but it's not enough compared to the scale of the need," says Jude Fuhnwi, ICRC spokesperson in Ethiopia.The World Food Programme says it has "stepped up" its road convoys to Tigray since the peace dealThe UN's World Food Programme has a target of getting emergency food aid to 2.1 million people in Tigray every six months weeks and says it's on track.
"When we come here for treatment, most of the equipment is not functional. We're trying everywhere, but there's nothing because of the blockade," he says.
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