Africa aid delays are 'costing lives'

Thousands of lives and millions of pounds were lost needlessly because of a "dangerous delay" in the response to the East Africa famine, a report has found.

A "culture of risk aversion" meant the international community failed to take decisive action on early warnings, causing a six-month setback in the relief effort.

Estimates suggest between 50,000 and 100,000 lives were lost between April and August, with more than half of that number under the age of five. Leading aid agencies have hit out at governments and humanitarian organisations as the report found they were "too slow" to spend money on those in need.

The report, A Dangerous Delay, showed only particularly high levels of media coverage helped.