Over the past ten years large-scale outbreaks of pellagra have only occurred amongst populations dependent on emergency food aid. The most recent outbreak in Kuito, Angola highlighted in this edition of Field Exchange is the largest since the outbreak in Malawi among Mozambican refugees in the early nineties. Unfortunately Pellagra is not the only micronutrient deficiency disease to have been reported amongst food aid dependent populations in recent years. There have also been epidemics of scurvy, beri-beri, angular stomatitis and severe anaemia. The question is, why are these eminently preventable diseases allowed to develop amongst populations under international care and protection?
