The slaughtered childhood in Yemen

YemenExtra

Y.A

 More than 22 million people – and nearly all children – are now in desperate need of humanitarian assistance in Yemen. The country’s infrastructure has been destroyed and its health services crippled, according to unicef.

More than 5,000 children have been killed or injured in the violence – an average of five children every day, it added.

The country’s water and sanitation infrastructure has also been ravaged, posing serious health risks. Restrictions on the importation of fuel have disrupted the delivery of water to millions of people in one of the most water-scarce countries on Earth. Fuel shortages have also curtailed access to health care, as hospitals are unable to power the generators they need to function.

On 6 October 2016, health authorities in Yemen confirmed a cholera outbreak, posing a major health risk to the population – especially children – given the crumbling health system in the country. Suspected cholera and acute watery diarrhoea have affected over 1 million people, with children under 5 years old accounting for a quarter of all cases. On top of this, a diphtheria outbreak in early 2018 has now reached over 1,200 cases.