Yemen’s cholera epidemic keeps getting worse

The death toll from a major cholera outbreak in Yemen has risen to 1,500, Nevio Zagaria, the World Health Organisation’s representative in Yemen, said on Saturday, and appealed for more help to put an end to the epidemic.

A last week survey of 200,000 cases has grown to a nearly 250,000. In another week, unless things change quickly, there will be even more.

Representative of WHO in Yemen said Cholera is treatable, but it requires being able to deliver the right medicine in sufficient amounts to the sick blaming the Saudi-led blockade and also devastation of the country’s healthcare system for the issue.

According to Nevio Zagaria aid agencies are working extremely hard to contain the epidemic, but they are doing so without adequate funding and with scant or no cooperation from the governments with the means to help.

Malnutrition, due to years of war and blockade, has intensified the situation. Damage to the country’s infrastructure has challenged the people to find enough clean drinking water.

The near-famine conditions make it much easier for disease to spread rapidly, and they make it more likely that the disease will kill many more people than it would have otherwise. These are man-made disasters inflicted on the people of Yemen as the result of deliberate policy choices by their neighboring states and their Western patrons.
The U.S. and other coalition supporters can still try to repair some of the damage they have helped cause, but after more than two years of working to bring about the world’s worst humanitarian crisis it is doubtful that any will make a serious effort.

KD