<\/p>\n
Steve Watson
\nSUMMIT NEWS<\/p>\n
Germany\u2019s Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Gerd Muller, has warned that lockdown measures throughout the globe will end up killing more people than the Coronavirus itself.<\/strong><\/p>\n In an\u00a0interview<\/a>\u00a0with German newspaper Handelsblatt, Muller warned that the response to the global pandemic has resulted in\u00a0\u201cone of the biggest\u201d<\/em>\u00a0hunger and poverty crises in history.<\/p>\n Muller warned that further damage will be done if draconian measures continue to be enacted by governments.<\/p>\n \u201cWe expect an additional 400,000 deaths from malaria and HIV this year on the African continent alone,\u201d Muller emphasised, adding that \u201chalf a million more will die from tuberculosis.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe supply of food and medication is no longer guaranteed,\u201d\u00a0Muller continued, adding\u00a0\u201cMany of the West\u2019s aid programs are not adequately funded,\u201d also noting that while countries focus on battling the virus at home, it is having a massive toll on countries not equipped to combat it without help.<\/p>\n Muller further warned that\u00a0\u201chumanitarian catastrophes\u201d are\u00a0\u201cbuilding up right on our doorstep,\u201d while European governments concentrate on lockdowns and restricting the movement of people.<\/p>\n \u201cEurope has decided to support its own economy with programs worth around two trillion euros. No additional support is planned for Africa. That will catch up with us,\u201d Muller urged.<\/p>\n The Minister admitted that a further wave of mass migration in the future could result from such action.<\/p>\n Muller\u2019s comments come five months after\u00a0a\u00a0leaked study from inside the German Ministry of the Interior<\/a>\u00a0revealed that the impact of the country\u2019s lockdown could end up killing more people than the coronavirus due to victims of other serious illnesses not receiving treatment.<\/p>\n the findings dovetail with\u00a0other research<\/a> that has concluded lockdowns will conservatively\u00a0\u201cdestroy at least seven times more years of human life\u201d than they save.<\/p>\n As we have previously\u00a0highlighted<\/a>, in the UK there have already been up to 10,000 excess deaths as a result of seriously ill people avoiding hospitals due to COVID-19 or not having their hospital treatments cancelled.<\/p>\n Professor Richard Sullivan also\u00a0warned<\/a>\u00a0that there will be more excess cancer deaths in the UK than total coronavirus deaths due to people\u2019s access to screenings and treatment being restricted as a result of the lockdown.<\/p>\n His comments were\u00a0echoed<\/a>\u00a0by Peter Nilsson, a Swedish professor of internal medicine and epidemiology at Lund University, who said, \u201cIt\u2019s so important to understand that the deaths of COVID-19 will be far less than the deaths caused by societal lockdown when the economy is ruined.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Professor Karol Sikora, an NHS consultant oncologist, there could be 50,000 excess deaths from cancer as a result of routine screenings being suspended during the lockdown in the UK.<\/p>\n In addition,\u00a0a study published in The Lancet<\/a>\u00a0that notes\u00a0\u201cphysical distancing, school closures, trade restrictions, and country lockdowns\u201d\u00a0are worsening global child malnutrition.<\/p>\n Experts have also\u00a0warned<\/a>\u00a0that there will be 1.4 million deaths globally from untreated TB infections due to the lockdown.<\/p>\n As we further previously\u00a0highlighted<\/a>, a data analyst consortium in South Africa found that the economic consequences of the country\u2019s lockdown will lead to 29 times more people dying than the coronavirus itself.<\/p>\n