Cholera strikes ‘half of Yemen’

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced today that cholera threatens half of Yemen’s provinces amid the ongoing conflict that has deteriorated the socio-political infrastructure of the country. According to the WHO, 11 out of 21 of Yemen’s provinces have reported cases of the disease. Taiz and Aden are affected disproportionately.

Current estimations by the WHO show that 7.6 million people living in the war-torn country are affected by cholera. The fighting has led to the displacement of more than three million people who are at particular risk of being infected by the water-borne disease.

Healthcare provisions in Yemen are no longer able to cope. Last week, it was revealed that over half of the health facilities across the country are either closed completely or only partially functioning.

Yemen has been engulfed by chaos since late 2014, when the Houthi rebels and their allies overran the capital Sanaa and other areas. It has since been locked in a bitter battle between Houthis allied with forces loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and government forces led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, along with local tribes and resistance forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition.