WHO Chief: World Treats Crises Affecting Blacks And Whites Differently
The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, criticized the world’s hyperfocus on the war in Ukraine while it practically ignores human suffering in countries where the victims are not white.
Speaking at a virtual press conference from Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday (April 13), Tedros highlighted crises in Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and his native Ethiopia. He questioned if “the world really gives equal attention to Black and white lives,” the Associated Press reported.
The civil war in Ethiopia, which began in November 2020 and pits government troops against forces in its northern Tigray region, has killed thousands of people, causing an estimated 350,000 others to live in famine conditions, according to the BBC. Both sides are also accused of committing atrocities.
“As we speak, people are dying of starvation,” said Tedros, an ethnic Tigrayan and malaria expert who is the first African ever to head the UN agency.
He added that only 20 of the 2,000 trucks packed with food, medicine and other essentials have arrived in the war-torn region since a truce was declared in Tigray three weeks ago.
WHO’s chief said he recognized the tragedy and global significance of the war in Ukraine but suggested that other crises don’t get the attention they deserve.
“I need to be blunt and honest that the world is not treating the human race the same way,” he said. “Some are more equal than others.”
