New York: Next year is shaping up to be a humanitarian catastrophe and rich countries must not trample poor countries in a “stampede for vaccines” to combat the coronavirus pandemic, top UN officials have told the 193-member UN General Assembly.
World Food Program (WFP) chief David Beasley and World Health Organisation (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke on Friday during a special meeting on COVID-19, which emerged in China late last year and has so far infected 65 million globally.
World Food Program chief David Beasley said 2021 was going to be “catastrophic”.Credit:UN
The pandemic, measures taken by countries to try to stop its spread and the economic impact have fuelled a 40 per cent increase in the number of people needing humanitarian help, the United Nations said earlier this week. It has appealed for $US35 billion ($47 billion) in aid funding.
“2021 is literally going to be catastrophic based on what we’re seeing at this stage of the game,” said Beasley, adding that for a dozen countries, famine is “knocking on the door”.
