NDLI: Starvation remains the leading cause of death in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, after the Pretoria deal: a call for expedited action

Content Provider	Springer Nature : BioMed Central
Author	Haileselassie, Mekonnen Kahsay, Hayelom Teklemariam, Tesfay Gebretsadik, Ataklti Gessesse, Ataklti Desta, Abraham Aregay Kebede, Haftamu Mamo, Nega Negash, Degnesh Bahresilassie, Mengish Esayas, Rieye Haile, Amanuel Gebreegziabiher, Gebremedhin Kahsay, Amaha Gebregergs, Gebremedhin Berhe Amare, Hagos Mulugeta, Afework
Abstract	Background People in war-affected areas are more likely to experience excess mortality with hunger. However, information on the causes of death associated with hunger is often nonexistent. The purpose of this study was to verify and investigate hunger and hunger-related deaths after the Pretoria deal in Tigray, northern Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in nine districts and 53 IDP sites, which were randomly selected. All households with deceased family members were included and screened for perceived causes of death between November 2, 2022, and August 30, 2023. Suspected starvation deaths were further verified by the WHO-adapted verbal autopsy questionnaire to establish cause-specific mortality. Using a standardized cause-of-death list, three physicians assigned the causes of death, and disagreements over-diagnoses were settled by consensus. The Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance guidelines were also used to quantify household hunger status. Results Verbal autopsies were conducted for 72.2% (1946/2694) of deaths. Of these deaths, 201 (7.5%) in under-five children and 1205 (44.7%) in females were recorded. Deaths increased from 8.6% in March to 16.4% in July. A total of 90.6% of deaths occurred at home. Starvation was the predominant cause of death across all ages (49.3%, n = 1329). About 94/155 (60.3%) in the IDP center and 1235/2539 (48.6%) in the community died due to starvation. Children under five had a higher risk of starvation-related deaths (OR = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.22–2.34). Females were also more likely to die by starvation than males. Large proportions of households (60.1%) had moderate or severe hunger. Conclusion Starvation was the leading cause of death across all ages in the study group. This reflects an expedited humanitarian response from aid agencies to prevent more deaths. Interventions, including the return of the displaced communities to their original homes, are needed to rescue those facing moderate to severe hunger.
Related Links	https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12889-024-20932-9.pdf
Ending Page	13
Page Count	13
Starting Page	1
File Format	HTM / HTML
ISSN	14712458
DOI	10.1186/s12889-024-20932-9
Journal	BMC Public Health
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	24
Language	English
Publisher	BioMed Central
Publisher Date	2024-12-18
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Public Health Medicine Epidemiology Biostatistics Vaccine Environmental Health Causes of death Starvation Verbal autopsy Tigray Medicine/Public Health
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Journal Impact Factor	3.5/2023
5-Year Journal Impact Factor	3.9/2023

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1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
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7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

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