40-Year-Old Artsakh Citizen Dies From Starvation Due to Azerbaijan's Genocidal Blockade
By Armenia Media | Wednesday, 16 August 2023
A resident of Stepanakert, K. Hovhannisyan, born in 1983, has died as a result of chronic malnutrition, protein and energy deficiency, reports Artsakh’s Human Rights Defenders Office.According to the conclusion of the forensic medical examination and the death certificate of K. Hovhannisyan, his death resulted from “severe alimentary dystrophy (general exhaustion due to prolonged and incomplete intake of nutrients, edema, a disorder of all forms of metabolism with organ changes and their functional disorders), cachexia, protein-energy deficiency, kwashiorkor (a specific severe type of eating disorder that develops with insufficient protein content in food, the development of the disease is promoted by severe living conditions, low standard of living), bilateral polysegemental pneumonia with a predominance of the croup element on the right, pulmonary edema, mixed metabolia, hypoxic encephalopathy, dystrophy of internal organs-kidneys, anemia, septic condition, right hydrothorax, chronic malnutrition.”The report says: “The catastrophic consequences of the ongoing 8-month-long blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan are more than noticeable and tangible in the public health sector, which primarily affects the health situation of the most vulnerable groups of the society - children, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases, people with disabilities and older persons.”“The catastrophic food situation caused by the blockade and especially the 2-month-long complete siege, leading to the malnutrition of people and the threat of hunger, the lack of necessary medicines and the inability of the full functioning healthcare system create direct and undeniable threats to 120,000 population of Artsakh,” the report concluded.
