World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has suggested racism is behind the lack of international attention to the plight of civilians in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. , devastated by war.

Calling it the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world”, with 6 million people unable to access basic services, Tedros questioned in an emotional appeal why the situation does not receive the same attention as the Ukraine conflict.

“Maybe the reason is the color of people’s skin,” Tedros, originally from Tigray, told a virtual news conference on Wednesday. In April this year, at a briefing, he questioned whether the same attention is paid to “black and white lives” in emergencies around the world.

WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan also criticized the apparent lack of concern over ongoing drought and famine in the Horn of Africa, and the ensuing health crisis.

“It seems like no one cares what’s going on in the Horn of Africa,” Ryan said at a virtual briefing on Wednesday.

The WHO requested 123.7 million dollars to face the health problems derived from the growing malnutrition in the region, where some 200 million people live and millions of them go hungry.