WHO: Largest medical aid shipment arrives in Yemen

The largest shipment of medical supplies since the beginning of the conflict in March 2015 reached Yemen, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced last night.

In a post on its official Facebook page, the organisation said: “A World Health Organisation-chartered aircraft carrying intravenous fluids and cholera kits has successfully landed at Sana’a airport in Yemen. At 67 tonnes, it constitutes the largest planeload of medical goods WHO has brought into the country since the escalation of the conflict in March 2015.”

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The organisation also noted that the supplies are sufficient to treat 10,000 patients, which is “a welcome boost to the country’s response to a cholera outbreak.”

Cholera has claimed the lives of over 400 people in Yemen in less than a month. A number of international organisations, including WHO, UNICEF and the Red Cross have all sent medical supplies to Yemen due to the inability of local health authorities to treat the outbreak.

Gulf relief agencies, such as the King Salman Centre for Relief and Humanitarian Aid and the Emirati and Qatari Red Crescent, have also sent medical aid to Yemen over the past few days.