and today, a boy is fighting for his life. he is two years old, but weighs little more than a newborn baby. he has been hungry for most of his life? his mother hawa tells me abdiweli he had a fever for weeks. the drought took everything from us, all our crops, our cattle, she says. there was nothing left for the boy to eat. which is why they came here, to dolow. it took the boy and his family nine days to walk to this camp. they had to beg for food on the way. it was somalia s savage drought that forced them off their farm but the real culprit here is man made climate change. almost no one here thinks they will ever go back to their farms, to their old way of life.
to places like this. the crowded outskirts of dolow, a border town where some help is at hand. the local hospital, funded by britain since the last famine here back in 2011, is playing a vital role. the baby is really very severely malnourished. but pamela, a nutrition expert from neighbouring kenya, is afraid of what lies ahead. somalia needs help. now? now, yeah. and if it doesn t get it? we are headed for a catastrophe. this is serious. it s really going to get worse if nothing more comes in other than what s already there. today, that catastrophe is already taking shape in the crowded stabilisation ward. as usual, it s the under fives who act as the fragile sirens of famine.
today, that catastrophe is already taking shape in the crowded stabilisation ward. as usual, it s the under fives who act as the fragile sirens of famine. and today, a boy is fighting for his life. he is two years old, but weighs little more than a newborn baby. he has been hungry for most of his life? his mother tells me he had a fever for weeks. the drought took everything from us, all our crops, our cattle, she says. there was nothing left for the boy to eat. which is why they came here, to dolow. it took the boy and his family nine days to walk to this camp. they had to beg for food on the way. it was somalia s savage drought that forced them off their farm but the real culprit here
somalia has a long history of droughts, but due to climate change, the intervals between dry periods are getting shorter, and this one is the worst in a0 years. it s estimated that more than half the population nearly 8 million people are currently living in drought affected areas. it s growing into a full blown famine, where households have no food, and children suffer acute malnutrition. andrew harding s report comes from dolow, where people have come in search of life saving help. a warning that you are likely to find parts of it difficult to watch. from the parched plains of southern somalia, a weary exodus. these families have trekked for days across a hostile wilderness in search of food.
father is already helping to dig a grave. there are brief prayers. and as the women watch from a distance, a two year old s body is buried. it will not be the last here. andrew harding, bbc news, in dolow, somalia. andrew harding reporting on the incredibly difficult situation there and he reported a few weeks ago and has come back with that recent update on the situation. campaigners are warning that the government is running out of time to equip the nhs with a drug that could protect some vulnerable people against covid 19 this winter. the department of health says more research is needed before it commits to purchasing evusheld. here s our health correspondent, dominic hughes. evusheld would give me