'Christmas famine' kills 20
27/12/2005 11:22  - (SA)  

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Wajir - At least 20 people have died from hunger and related illness in drought-hit northern Kenya this month, said officials on Tuesday as President Mwai Kibaki prepared to inspect relief operations in the region.

Amid a national outcry over what local media have dubbed the "Christmas famine", Kibaki was set to visit two of the worst-hit areas after issuing urgent weekend appeals for domestic and foreign assistance for the 2.5 million people expected to need help by February.

As they readied for the visit of Kibaki, who ordered the military on Friday to help distribute food and water to the needy, officials said the death toll from malnutrition and its side effects now stood at 20, up eight since last week.

At least eight children died of malnutrition or related diseases in December in Garissa Provincial Hospital, the biggest referral facility in the region, while 12 others have died in outlying areas, said a medical official.

Suspect death toll is higher

"There is an increase of malnutrition here," said Garissa hospital chief Khadija Abdalla.

"Of the 60 patients in hospital now, 21 are children who were brought here because of severe malnutrition."

Other hospital officials said they suspected the toll was higher as they believed they were not yet aware of many deaths among the nomadic pastoralist population that lived in the region.

"We are certain there are more deaths out there, but it is hard to figure a correct figure because some go unreported," said one.

In Wajir, a dusty district outpost about 500km northeast of Nairobi, a senior official from the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) said entire communities might vanish because of the drought's heavy toll on cattle.

2.5 million face food shortage

"Hundreds of livestock have died in this region and I fear that communities may soon be wiped out since they depend entirely on livestock," said Farid AbdulKadir, the head of the society's disaster relief operations, who described conditions as "terribly horrible".

"We are talking about a situation where more than half of the country is facing drought and 2.5 million people are facing food shortages," he said.

"There is no need to hide the reality from the world," said AbdulKadir.

"Unless something is done urgently, the situation will most certainly spiral out of control."

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