REPORTS

The most direct and obvious results of famine are severe undernutrition and death. While longitudinal studies have demonstrated that undernourished persons -- particularly children -- are at higher risk of mortality, the immediate cause of death is usually a communicable disease. Malnutrition causes an increased case-fatality ratio (CFR) in the most common childhood communicable diseases (i.e., measles, diarrheal disease, malaria, and acute respiratory infections (ARIs)). Those at highest risk of mortality during nonfamine times -- namely, the poor, the elderly, women, and young children -- are the same groups most at risk for the morbidity and mortality caused by famine. In addition, the movement of populations into crowded and unsanitary camps, the violence associated with forced migrations, and the negative psychological effects of fear, uncertainty, and dependency contribute to the health problems experienced by displaced persons.

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