Almost 2,000 people have died in a cholera outbreak in Yemen since April while more than 500,000 people in the nation are now suspected of having the disease, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization.
The UN agency has warned that a lack of clean water or access to health care is causing the disease to spread rapidly in what is currently the largest outbreak of the disease in the world. They note that more than 99 per cent of people with suspected cholera who can access health services are surviving.
“Yemen’s cholera epidemic, currently the largest in the world, has spread rapidly due to deteriorating hygiene and sanitation conditions and disruptions to the water supply across the country,” the WHO said in a statement issued on Monday. “Millions of people are cut off from clean water, and waste collection has ceased in major cities.”
The WHO said the “collapsing” health system in the nation was struggling to cope, with more than half of all health facilities closed due to damage, destruction or a lack of funds. Shortages in supplies and medicines are “persistent and widespread” and as many as 30,000 critical health workers have not been paid salaries in almost a year.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said health workers in Yemen are operating in “impossible conditions”. “Thousands of people are sick, but there are not enough hospitals, not enough medicines, not enough clean water. These doctors and nurses are the backbone of the health response – without them we can do nothing in Yemen. They must be paid their wages so that they can continue to save lives.”
Dr Tedros urged Yemeni authorities and the international community to find a political solution to the conflict in the nation. “The people of Yemen cannot bear it much longer – they need peace to rebuild their lives and their country.”
