GENEVA, June 21 (Xinhua) -- The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) warned United Nation member states on Wednesday that outbreaks of cholera are compounding famine risk in East Africa and Yemen.
Speaking during a high-level panel on famine in East Africa and Yemen during the opening day of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), IFRC Secretary General Elhadj As Sy said the disease was already diverting resources and focus away from efforts to treat malnutrition and widespread hunger.
"Right now, Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers and staff are working around the clock to stop the spread of cholera, and to treat people who are sick," said Sy, adding that without treatment for malnutrition, more people will fall ill.
"It is the most vicious of vicious spirals, and the situation is rapidly escalating downwards and out of control," he noted.
According to IFRC figures, Yemen, Somalia and South Sudan are now grappling with escalating cholera outbreaks that have infected more than 220,000 people and killed nearly 2,100 people since the beginning of 2017.
In Yemen alone, more than 166,000 cases have been reported since the end of April, a figure that is climbing by an average of 6,000 cases every day, IFRC said.
In Somalia, there have been more than 51,000 cholera cases and nearly 5,000 in South Sudan.
"Hunger kills in and of itself, but it kills to the nth degree when compounded by disease," said Sy.
