Communications Writing

News Stories:

COVID-19 Pandemic

Food insecurity is on the rise due to COVID-19, WFP warns

COVID-19 has worsened the global hunger crisis due to an economic recession, and the breakdown of supply chains, access to healthcare, and social safety nets, a World Food Program USA spokesperson said last week. 

Developing countries are highest at risk of being affected, said Goldie Pyka, Senior Manager for editorial content and brand. 

“This is the worst hunger crisis since World War Two hands down,” said Pyka who has worked for the World Food Program (WFP) for two years. 

Following the outbreak of the pandemic, 270 million people are “severely starving,” Pyka said in a recorded address to about 200 students at Boston University. Countries such as Yemen, Syria, and South Sudan are most vulnerable to said food insecurity. 

According to the United Nations, the combination of COVID-19 and the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut explosion has halted commercial supply chains in Syria. These events have caused an increase in food prices and a decrease in the lack of resources available to civilians. 

In South Sudan, the cost of living and fuel has risen due to a growing economic crisis, according to Oxfam Charity. Civilians have been left unemployed, homeless, and food insecure due to a depletion of stocks in local markets. 

Social security programs are also not widespread in less economically developed countries, Pyka revealed, with fewer than 20% of civilians being protected. 

“A child in Yemen dies every 10 seconds from hunger-related causes,” Pyka said, referring to the absence of healthcare which has been heightened by the pandemic.

The Senior Manager drew a positive correlation between individuals who suffer from food insecurity and those who have compromised immune systems. Pyka went further to say that these vulnerable individuals are failing to be medically treated. 

The WFP aims to feed 138 million people by 2030. To combat food insecurity and re-stimulate local economies, the organization is taking part in cash-in-hand schemes and food distribution programs to 83 countries. 

The United Nations-affiliated organization also established a School Meals Program in developing countries to provide for school children. A one-dollar investment is equivalent to a 20 dollar return, Pyka explained in an effort for American citizens to get involved.

The rise in food insecurity will see an increase in mass migration from developing nations to countries like the United States, Pyka warned in her address. Political destabilization, in the form of strikes, is likely to occur due to tensions between locals and immigrants. 

The WFP is continuing to combat global hunger by feeding the world’s most vulnerable populations, but Pyka believes that America can do more. 

“It is the most solvable problem. We just need the resources and collective will to make it happen,” Pyka said in her closing statement.

The COVID-19 pandemic had massive societal, economic, environmental, and mental health impacts on individuals and various communities. Providing a platform for individuals to share their experiences during this time is vital to continue to educate others and spread information on current issues and events.

The fourth wave of COVID-19: mental health issues

Running, cooking, and meditating are some of the many activities students engaged in to help deal with the stresses that came with the recent COVID-19 pandemic according to college students interviewed last week. 

During the pandemic, depression rates increased by three times higher in adults compared to pre-COVID years according to 2021 research from the Boston University School of Public Health.   

Miya Stauss, a 19-year-old Boston University undergraduate, said she ran a lot around her neighborhood and went to the gym to stay active and relieve stress during the pandemic. 

“I also went on walks with my family”, she stated last Tuesday over Zoom. 

Quarantine and self-isolation were some of the main drives that caused an increase in depression rates. According to the Texas A&M School of Public Health, there was a 9% increase in depression in students stuck in-home quarantine across 6 universities. 

Daisy Valderrama, a Boston University music undergraduate student, tackled feeling depressed during the pandemic by focusing on the smaller everyday activities such as getting ready every morning. They also shared how playing Animal Crossing, a popular Nintendo game that was released in 2019, helped pass the time. 

“It kind of simulates real life; you have to pay mortgage, regular day hours, and long term goals”, they stated in an online interview last Thursday. 

Women were at the highest risk for exhibiting a high prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms according to a study conducted by the University of Paris. 

Audrey Kong, a student at Boston University, found that Animal Crossing was too stressful during such uncertain times because she said she is a perfectionist. Instead, she started using the meditation app Headspace. She mainly did the ones targeted towards helping overwhelming feelings, “I did all the one-minute ones because I couldn’t focus further than that but still found it super helpful.”

Public health professionals should prepare for a fourth wave where more psychological trauma and mental illnesses will rise as a long-term effect after the COVID-19 outbreak, according to Dr. Sheri Madigan, a clinical psychologist, stated in a video conference in May 2021. 

“The fourth wave is likely going to be a very significant consequence of the pandemic that we are going to have mental health difficulties and that it is likely going to sustain over time”, she said.

Samer Aslan, a Johns Hopkins undergraduate, stayed active by doing at-home workouts to deal with everyday stress. He also rediscovered a past passion for cooking as he stated, “I made my first seafood risotto which made me fall in love with cooking again which was a great feeling during such stressful times”. 

The Centers for Disease Control offers tips to deal with the stress of the pandemic such as to take breaks from reading information about COVID-19 online, to keep connecting with others, and to further be a part of your community on a guide written in January 2021 to help people combat the fourth wave of the pandemic. 

Dr. Ruth Shim, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Davis, said that we have to keep in mind that “the rise in depression rates in the COVID pandemic are attributable to multiple determinants of mental health including unemployment, food insecurity, poverty, discrimination, adverse early life experience, and poor access to health care.”