Food aid reaches almost half of Somalis in need but threat of disease looms, U.N. agency says

Sep 30 2011

"The U.N. on Wednesday said food assistance has reached nearly half the Somalis in need, [and] it warned cases of diarrhea and cholera could spike with the seasonal rains expected in October," the Associated Press reports (9/28). "However, the report released Tuesday by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that four million Somalis remain in crisis nationwide, and that 750,000 people risk death in the Horn of Africa nation within the next four months," according to VOA News.

According to the WHO, "cases of diarrhea and cholera have decreased in Somalia during the month of September. But it also warned that upcoming October rains could fuel the spread of waterborne diseases like cholera, measles and malaria," the news service writes (9/28). "Drought, high food prices and fighting in Somalia have increased the number of those in need of humanitarian assistance across the Horn of Africa to 13.3 million, according to the U.N.," Agence France-Presse notes (9/28).