WHO warns cholera threatens half of Yemen

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that cholera threatens half of Yemen’s provinces amid an on-going conflict that has plunged the country into a humanitarian and economic crisis, Al Araniya.Net reported.

According to the WHO, 11 provinces - almost half of the country – are reporting cases of the disease, with most occurring in Taiz and Aden. This is a marked increase to recent reports that the disease had been contained in six provinces.

The organization had said late last month that cases of suspected cholera patients in Yemen rose to about 1410 within three weeks of the announcement of the emergence of the disease in the country - where on-going fighting has affected health facilities and access to clean water supply is difficult to come by for swathes of the population.

The WHO had warned that the scarcity of drinking water contributed to the increased incidence of severe abdominal pain, especially among those who have been displaced from their homes in central Yemen.
Last month, the WHO appealed to the international community to provide urgent support to prevent the spread of cholera in Yemen. It said that the fight against cholera requires the provision of $22.35 million in aid.

Over 7.6 million affected

The WHO stated that more than 7.6 million people living in war-torn Yemen are affected by cholera, and that more than three million displaced people are particularly at risk of being infected.

The health organization pointed out that health conditions of the population worsened as a result of food shortages and the increasing cases of malnutrition and lack of access to adequate health services.

It stressed that without a speedy response to the pandemic, it is likely that cases of cholera will continue to increase, more than 15,200 cases in which patients require care in cholera treatment centers.

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This article is available in Arabic at AlArabiya.Net.