WHO struggles to meet medical needs in Ethiopia’s Tigray region

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday disclosed it has been able to reach only 1.6 million people out of 3.9 million people in need of medical help in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region.

In a Tigray region health cluster response dashboard, the WHO said it has only been able to meet the medical needs of 1.6 million people in the Tigray region between January and August.

The UN body had planned to reach around 2.3 million people in the first eight months of this year.

The WHO provided lifesaving essential health care services as well as early detection, investigation and response to health emergencies, and dispatched 956 metric tons of medical supplies to health facilities across the Tigray region during the period.

The Tigray region has suffered devastating damages during a two-year-long conflict between government-allied troops and forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). The conflict has left tens of thousands dead and millions more in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

The Ethiopian government and the TPLF signed a cessation of hostilities agreement last November to end the conflict.