UN and WHO leaders address Japan nutrition summit

Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida said Japan will spend over $2.8 billion US dollars on supporting nutrition-related sectors in the next three years.

Kishida made the announcement at the opening of the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit. Among those attending remotely was the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, who warned that the COVID-19 pandemic had increased the number of people suffering from hunger by 20% over the past year. He said 41 million people were currently on the verge of starvation. The head of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reinforced the point, noting that malnutrition was one of the world's leading causes of death and illness.