In Yemen War is a Wound, But With Cholera There is Salt in the Wound

YemenExtra

SH.A.

Yemen’s Ministry of Water and Sanitation said it is going to implement 21 projects to combat cholera disease in some provinces in cooperation with UNICEF, said the ministry in a statement.

The cholera epidemic in Yemen has become the largest and fastest-spreading outbreak of the disease in modern history, with a million cases expected by the end of the year and at least 600,000 children likely to be affected.

The World Health Organization has reported more than 815,000 suspected cases of the disease in Yemen and 2,156 deaths. About 4,000 suspected cases are being reported daily, more than half of which are among children under 18. Children under five account for a quarter of all cases.

The spread of the outbreak, which has quickly surpassed Haiti as the biggest since modern records began in 1949, has been exacerbated by hunger and malnutrition. While there were 815,000 cases of cholera in Haiti between 2010 and 2017, Yemen has exceeded that number in just six months.

More than three years of war has crippled the country, causing widespread internal displacement, the collapse of the public health system, and leaving millions on the brink of famine.