Cholera in Yemen Tops the Previous Annual Record of 340,311 in Haiti

YemenExtra

SH.A.

The number of people suffering from cholera in Yemen is now the largest ever in any country in a single year since records began, Oxfam said.

At more than 350,000 suspected cholera cases in just three months since the outbreak started, it tops the previous annual record of 340,311 in Haiti in 2011.

Almost 2,000 people in Yemen have died from suspected cholera since late April this year and many more are at risk.

Oxfam International’s Humanitarian Director Nigel Timmins, who has just returned from Yemen, said for many people weakened by war and hunger, cholera was the knockout blow.

“Cholera has spread unchecked in a country already on its knees after two years of war and which is teetering on the brink of famine,” Mr Timmins said.

“This is a massive crisis and it needs a massive response – if anything the numbers we have are likely to underestimate the scale of the crisis. So far, funding from governments to pay for the aid effort has been lacklustre at best, amounting to less than half is what’s needed.

“Cholera is easy to treat and simple to prevent. We need a well-coordinated effort to get clean water and decent sanitation to people and simple things like soap to keep them safe from disease. We need an end to country entry restrictions of supplies and people so that we can get on with the job.

“The war has destroyed Yemen’s economy and left millions of people without jobs or the means to earn a living, and forced 3 million Yemenis to flee their homes. It has precipitated a crisis that has left 7 million people on the brink of starvation.”

War has had a devastating effect on Yemen’s people and its infrastructure – More than 5,000 civilians have been killed in the fighting. Health, water and sanitation systems have been bombed to the point of collapse, leaving more than 15 million people without adequate access to clean drinking water and safe sanitation. Millions more are hungry and need help in getting a nutritious meal.

“Those countries providing the arms and military support, such as the US and the UK, are fuelling a war that is causing wide-spread suffering and tipping a whole nation towards a catastrophe. It is hard to imagine how much more Yemen can take before it collapses entirely.”

According to Oxfam.