Another Yemeni Baby Starved to Death Amid Saudi War

S.A.

Yemeni child born in current war in Yemen has starved to death at the age 5 months. Udai is one of the millions of humanitarian stories that appeared since March 2015. Udai’s short five-month life was destroyed by the war waged by the Saudi-led coalition and the worsening humanitarian crisis putting more than 300,000 children at risk of starvation.

On the day his mother gave birth, a hail of air strikes from Saudi-led coalition planes were striking a nearby Yemeni military base, with shrapnel showing the roof of the family’s bungalow in a shanty town on the outskirts of Sana’a.

“She was screaming and delivering the baby while the bombardment was rocking the place,” his father, Faisal Ahmed, said. Udai was given the milk every few days, and sugar solution on the others, despite clean water being scarce for his parents and 19 million other people in Yemen – three quarters of the population.

At three months old, the baby was suffering from diarrhea that local clinics lacked the supplies to treat. As the illness took its toll and Udai started wasting away, he was taken to the emergency department at Al-Sabeen Hospital on 20 March. He was diagnosed with severe malnutrition, diarrhea and a chest infection, seeing him put on antibiotics and a feeding solution by leading clinician Saddam al-Azizi.

Reporters met Udai and his parents there on 22 March, describing the baby with “arms were constantly convulsing, his emaciated legs motionless, his face gaunt and pale”. His body was too dehydrated to produce tears when he cried and he weighed just 5.3 pounds (2.4kg) – under half the size of a healthy child. After two days of treatment, his parents decided the situation was “hopeless” and took Udai home.

Dr Al-Azizi said he believed they could not afford to pay for the vital treatment. Udai survived just three hours after being taken home, being buried at the foot of the mountains nearby. Even if the treatment had continued, Dr Al-Azizi gave Udai only a 30 per cent chance of survival and the hospital was already dealing with dozens of malnourished children, who were arriving at twice the rate seen last year.

At least 15 have died since the start of this year. Clinics around the country have suffered shortages of medicines, meaning millions live in areas that have virtually no medical care. Dozens of medical facilities have been bombed, while those escaping the destruction are short of fuel to keep generators running.

Udai was just one of the millions of children suffering from malnutrition in Yemen as the country’s humanitarian crisis continues to worsen under relentless air strikes. While the Saudi-led bombing campaign has destroyed storehouses, roads, schools, farms, factories, power grids and water stations, it also has disrupted the entry of food and supplies.