Nearly one million people in the war-torn Yemen are infected with cholera: WHO

Sana’a, December 15: Nearly one million people in war-torn Yemen are infected with cholera while the death toll has surged to 2,225. Notably, Yemen is still suffering from the dual attack i.e civil war and another one from the outbreak of cholera. Due to an outbreak of cholera, 96% parts of Yemen is severely hampered and affected.

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that nearly one million people suspected cases of cholera have been reported in war-torn Yemen since April 27. Over the same period, the report goes on to note, 2,225 cholera-related deaths have been documented in 22 out of Yemen’s 23 provinces.

The WHO further noted that the island of Socotra is the only area that has not witnessed a cholera outbreak. The strategic Red Sea port city of Hudaydah, which is under Houthi control, has the highest number of cases with over 143,000. On the other side, Hajjah province has had the highest number of cholera deaths with 417.

Also, the fatality case rates have gone by 0.35%. Children and the elderly are the affected at the worst as more than 44% of the suspected cases since the outbreak and a quarter of the deaths are children, while old people represent 39% of fatalities.

Interestingly, with over 20 million people dependent on aid, Yemen is the world's single largest humanitarian crisis, now made even worse with the outbreak of cholera. Less than half the country’s hospitals are running and less than a third of the needed medicines are available due to which conditions are getting worst.

BACKGROUND:

In 2011, some 719,377 suspected cases of cholera were recorded in Haiti, and 8,767 people died, according to national figures cited by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. An epidemic late last year faded but outbreaks are frequent and made worse by the degrading of health and sanitation systems by more than two years of civil war that has also killed at least 10,000 people and displaced millions. Earlier, in 2011, some 719,377 suspected cases of cholera were recorded in Haiti, and 8,767 people died.