The cholera epidemic is spiraling out of control. While the WHO and NGOs have been sending drugs and supplies for a month, the disease continues to spread.
Plagued by war, Yemen is now ravaged by cholera. More than 101,800 people have attended hospital and 789 deaths have been reported in 19 governorates across the country, reports the World Health Organization (WHO).
The epidemic declared at the end of April is spreading at a lightning speed. While the WHO estimated the number of cases to be 300,000 in 6 months, this figure could be reached in just a few weeks.
In response, teams from the UN agency are sending more cargo ships filled with medicines, cholera kits, beds and chlorine to sanitize the water. Thousands of tonnes of material are also sent by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) present on the spot, such as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) or the Red Cross.
Destroyed infrastructure
NGOs are also replacing hospitals. After two years of armed conflict, barely 45% of health facilities are still standing. And the structures still operational lack personnel to cope with the influx of patients. Due to lack of space, patients are installed on mattresses in corridors.
As of May 31, MSF’s cholera treatment centers had received more than 12,000 patients in 7 governorates located in the west of the country. “A region which had never encountered cholera”, had indicated to Why actor Caroline Séguin, deputy head of MSF operations in the Middle East.
To this epidemic is added one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes: famine. Almost 7 million Yemenis are said to suffer from hunger. On Twitter, the United Nations Population Fund (UFPA) warned that more than a million malnourished pregnant women are threatened by cholera and need treatment.
To be able to stop the disaster, the charity Oxfam called for a ceasefire to access the population. “Cholera is easy to treat and prevent but if the fighting continues the task will be twice as difficult,” warned Sajjad Mohammed Sajid, director of the Oxfam office in Yemen.
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