Lack of money, COVID-19 threaten to ground U.N. airlift program

June 19 (UPI) -- The World Food Program said Friday an outfit that delivers medical supplies and healthcare workers to developing nations will run out of money next month without urgent emergency funds.

The WFP Humanitarian Air Service uses global and regional transportation hubs to fly the supplies and workers to remote locations in Africa and other underdeveloped nations. However, the coronavirus pandemic has grounded commercial and air cargo services.

The WFP said it needed $965 million to continue the service for all of 2020, but only $178 million has been raised so far. Without new funds, the service will run out of money before August, it noted.

"Just as demand for this service is reaching its peak, it could grind to a halt before the end of July unless substantial funding can be secured to keep [the] transport fleet moving," the agency said in a statement.

The United Nations organization said it's completed nearly 400 passenger and cargo flights and transported 2,500 aid workers to destinations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. It has enough cargo to fill 120 planes waiting to be transported in coming weeks.

In April, WFP Executive Director David Beasley warned of a looming "hunger pandemic" made worse by the COVID-19 crisis and civil conflicts in Syria and Yemen and natural disasters and humanitarian crises in Africa's South Sudan and Central Sahel region.

An agency analysis found that the pandemic could put an additional 130 million people on the brink of starvation by the end of this year, raising the total number of persons vulnerable worldwide at 265 million.