BOGOTA ( Associated Press) – At least 308 children under the age of five are expected to die of malnutrition in Colombia in 2022, the highest number of cases recorded in the past five years, a report presented Friday by the state ombudsman’s office said. according to the report.
Most of the child deaths were reported in La Guajira in the north of the country and Chocó in the west, two of Colombia’s poorest departments.
President Gustavo Petro acknowledged failures in his child care policy in La Guajira in December, when 20 minors from the Wayú ethnic group were reported to have died of malnutrition and called for an immediate action plan to prevent hunger in that region. had ordered.
In addition to food shortages, the Office of the Ombudsman also pointed to lack of access to basic sanitation as another associated factor.
The Office of the Ombudsman, in charge of ensuring human rights in the country, elaborated in a statement that the increase in child deaths due to malnutrition is notorious as 111 cases were registered in 2021.
“The above figures are reports reaching official entities, however, the work of our teams in the field warns of more dire situations, with high reports of deaths due to malnutrition in remote areas in the Vichaa department is” warned Venezuelan ombudsman Carlos Camargo.
In addition to the deaths, official figures show that last year more than 21,400 children suffered from acute malnutrition, particularly in Bogotá, the country’s capital, La Guajira and Antioquia, in the northwest.
