Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sparked a global food crisis with millions facing famine since both countries, two major wheat exporters, stopped exporting. Now the head of a major aid organization has warned that the global food crisis caused by the war in Ukraine will kill millions by making the hungry more vulnerable to infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, which could potentially cause a catastrophic new outbreak.
Since the beginning of the invasion, Russia has imposed a naval blockade on Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, cutting off shipments of grain from the world’s fourth largest exporter of wheat and maize to the rest of the world.
Western countries have accused Russia of trying to hold the world’s food supplies hostage in order to get leverage in the war.
Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, told AFP that millions would not only die from the famine caused by this crisis, but also from weaker defenses against infectious diseases due to poor nutrition.
In an interview at the G20 summit of health ministers, Mr Sands said: “I think we have probably already started our next health crisis.
“It is not a new pathogen, but it means that people who are poorly fed will be more vulnerable to the existing diseases.
“I think the combined impact of infectious diseases and the food shortages and the energy crisis … we can talk about millions of extra deaths as a result of this.”
The health expert warned against a revival of tuberculosis (TB), which plagued Britain in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and continues to spread in many parts of the world today.
Mr Sands said: “It was a disaster for TB.
“In 2020, you saw worldwide 1.5 million fewer people being treated for TB and tragically that means hundreds of thousands of people will die, but also those people will infect other people.”
READ MORE: Horror warning after outbreak of Victorian-era diseases in Wales