Yemeni civil war turns country into cholera hotbed

11.08.2017, USA.

Yemen’s raging two-year conflict has turned the country into an incubator for lethal,” UN specialists reported on August 10, according to the Associated Press.

Yemen has seen the largest outbreak of the disease ever recorded in any country in a single year. The United Nations and international aid organizations say they are shocked at the speed and scale of the outbreak.

“It’s a cholera paradise,” said George Khoury, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen.

One in every 120 Yemenis is now suspected of being sick with cholera, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

About 5,000 people fall ill every day and more than 450,000 people are suspected of having the disease, according to the World Health Organization.

Primitive drainage and water systems put Yemenis at risk of drinking fecal-contaminated water. Wells are dirtied by runoff from rainfall on piles of garbage.  Farmland is irrigated from the half-broken sewers due to lax oversight and corruption. Due to lack of funding, half of the country’s health facilities are out of service.

The civil war in Yemen started on February 26, 2015 with the Saudi Arabian-led intervention of the Arab States coalition forces in support of the internationally recognized government against the Houti rebels.

The war, which has killed 10,000 civilians, has caused famine to spread within the country. UN figures show there are 17 million people who are victims of famine in Yemen. Nearly 80 percent of Yemen’s children need humanitarian assistance, while 2.2 million children suffer from severe malnutrition. Around 14.5 million people do not have access to clean water and sanitation.

Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency

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