I was there at the start of the war, and Tigray was one of the regions that had better health care. Actually, in the whole of Ethiopia, we have had this problem of malnutrition, as we are a developing country. Before the siege, the prevalence of malnutrition and lack of basic food supplies in hospitals was at almost 50%, but after the siege, among the children admitted to the primary referring hospital in the region, it was 100%. You can imagine it; you have probably seen horrific pictures of women and children with malnutrition.
By the way, my medical doctor friends have been out of salary for about two years. I had the chance to talk to one of my friends from Ayder via a phone call. He told me that he cannot sustain life. He's a medical doctor, a subspecialist, and he cannot sustain life.
The lack of food and basic services is alarming. As you have seen from the reports, 5.2 million are on the brink of famine. They cannot eat regular meals. They are eating different plants and, if they can find it, one piece of bread a day. Let alone the general population, even people considered to be in the highest economic stratum are starving to death. They are waiting for the 12.5 kilograms of grain per month in aid from USAID.