According to the UN Children’s Fund, there will be more than 115,000 kids in the Caribbean island country who might starve to death in 2023, up from over 86,000 last year.
The number of children in Haiti who are suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), commonly known as severe wasting, has increased dramatically, according to a statement from UNICEF.
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According to Bruno Maes, a UNICEF official in Haiti, “In Haiti, more and more mothers and fathers can no longer provide appropriate care and nutrition to their children, and parents cannot take them to health centers due to increasing horrific violence caused by armed groups.”
Since President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in July 2021, rival gangs have taken over the majority of the capital city Port-au-Prince in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, which is currently experiencing a political and economic catastrophe.
If immediate action is not done, additional youngsters would perish from severe wasting due to the current cholera outbreak, according to Maes’ warning.
Since the disease’s reappearance in Haiti in October, more than 41,000 suspected cases have been recorded, with youngsters under the age of 14 accounting for over half of the cases, according to the statement.
In its statement, UNICEF stated that it urgently needed $17 million to address the issue, including to enable the identification of malnutrition and to buy food and other therapies.
Without such actions, “the situation could further deteriorate between now and October,” according to the statement.
“A funding gap could put the lives of more than 100,000 children at risk of immediate death,” it said, stating that children in Port-au-Prince are the most impacted.
In addition, the statement said that roughly one in four Haitian children already experience chronic undernutrition, which prevents them from reaching their “physical and cognitive capabilities.”
