Violence in northern Ethiopia pushing health system towards collapse: WHO

Fighting and drone strikes in northern Ethiopia are pushing the country’s fragile health system towards collapse, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported in a statement released on Monday that the conflict between rebels from the northern Tigray region and the government in Addis Ababa had killed several civilians in recent days and strained medical facilities.

“As fighting continues, more people are likely to lose access to essential healthcare, including emergency services, maternal and child healthcare and treatment for diseases,” he warned.

At least 15 people, several of them children, died in a series of drone strikes that hit a camp for displaced civilians in ⁠⁠Ethiopia’s Amhara region on Friday, sources involved in a rescue operation told the Reuters news agency.

Tedros, the world’s highest-profile Tigrayan, confirmed that children were among those reported to be killed at the Jaari 2 displacement camp in Amhara. In Rama, in neighbouring Tigray, several people were killed while seeking food.

Tedros gave no overall casualty tolls from the attacks and did not identify the perpetrators. However, he warned that drone attacks and civilian casualties were becoming more frequent across Ethiopia, worsening public health and humanitarian issues.

“The violence in northern Ethiopia is pushing an already fragile health system closer to collapse,” he said. “Hospitals face shortages of health workers, medicines and equipment. Ambulance services are severely limited. Insecurity is obstructing the delivery of life-saving medical supplies to some areas.”

The WHO and other United Nations agencies are working to deliver additional supplies, Tedros said. He called for civilians to be protected and for health workers and products to be allowed to reach those in need.

Renewed fighting between an alliance of rebels from the northern Tigray region and the government in Addis Ababa has all but shattered the November 2022 peace agreement between the two groups, stoking fears of a wider conflict.