The global food crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine will claim millions of lives by making large populations more vulnerable to infectious diseases at the risk of triggering a new health crisis, warned the head of the Global Fund, an organization that fights AIDS. malaria and tuberculosis.
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Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports has halted grain exports from the world’s fourth largest exporter of wheat and corn, threatening food supplies in many countries.
However, there is a risk that these food shortages will not only lead to famine but also weaken the resilience of populations exposed to infectious diseases due to malnutrition, Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund, told AFP this week.
“I think the next health crisis has probably already started. It’s not a new virus, but it is the fact that many malnourished people will be more susceptible to existing viruses,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of a G20 health ministers meeting in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
“I think the combined impact of infectious diseases, food shortages and the energy crisis (…) can cause millions of additional deaths.”
World governments “must prioritize primary, village and community health care” to reduce the impact of the food crisis on the poorest and most vulnerable, the Brit told the head of the fund, which weighs four billion dollars .
The fight against coronavirus has drawn resources from the fight against tuberculosis, which killed 1.5 million people in 2020, according to the World Health Organization.
“It was a disaster for tuberculosis.” “In 2020, 1.5 million fewer people were being treated for tuberculosis and, unfortunately, that means hundreds of thousands of people will die from it, but it will also infect others.”
For this health professional, solving the food crisis is essential to fighting tuberculosis, the second deadliest infectious disease in the world.
Westerners have accused Russia of pushing for concessions by blocking vital grain exports, threatening many countries with starvation, which Moscow denies.
On Friday, Germany is organizing an international conference on the food crisis in the presence of the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken.
Tuberculosis “is the pandemic of the poor, which is why it hasn’t attracted as much investment in research and development,” Peter Sands points out.
“It’s a tragedy because it’s a disease that we know how to prevent, how to cure, and how to get rid of.”