Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Addis Ababa (Agenzia Fides) - "The situation in Tigray is catastrophic, the region has been isolated from the rest of the world for 500 days now", accuses Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization. "Public attention is mainly focused on the war in Ukraine, but as of mid-December 2021, no food aid has been delivered to the northern region of Ethiopia", Tedros said in a press conference, adding that about three-quarters of health facilities assessed by WHO in the region have been destroyed and around 40,000 people with HIV are without treatment". "It is true that I come from Tigray - said Tedros - and this crisis affects me, my family and my friends in a very personal way. But as Director-General of WHO, I have the duty to protect and promote health wherever it is threatened. And there is no place in the world where the health of millions of people is more threatened than Tigray". In addition to the serious Tigrinya crisis, there is also the critical issue of COVID-19 on the African continent. Currently, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Africa has reached 11,287,599. The African Union health agency said the death toll from the pandemic on the continent is 250,422. The number of patients cured so far is 10,555,195. South Africa has recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases on the continent with 3,696,823 cases, followed by the two North African countries, Morocco and Tunisia, with 1,162,236 and 1,029,762 cases respectively. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 17/3/2022)
