Food shortages are next global health crisis, says expert

FILE PHOTO: French President Emmanuel Macron, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of World Health Organization (WHO), and Agnes Buzyn, French Minister for Solidarity and Health, and Peter Alexander Sands, British banker, and the executive director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, pose after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, January 11, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/Pool

Growing food shortages may represent the same health threat to the world as the COVID-19 pandemic, a leading global health figure has warned.

Rising food and energy prices, in part sparked by the war in Ukraine, could kill millions both directly and indirectly, Peter Sands, the executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.