MSF closing cholera clinics in Yemen

Doctors without Borders (MSF) is closing most of its cholera clinics in Yemen, BBC News reported this week.

According to the group, only 567 new Yemeni patients requested treatment for cholera in the beginning of October, a significant reduction from the 11,139 who asked for treatment at the end of June.

“The cholera outbreak is not over but it is no longer our medical priority in Yemen. However, this should not eclipse the dire health situation of millions of Yemenis who are unable to access basic primary healthcare,” Ghassan Abou Chaar, head of mission in Yemen at MSF said.

Some 884,000 cases of cholera have been reported since April, with 2,184 people dead from the disease.

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The official account of cases reported cannot be verified as many of the Yemenis may transpire to have contracted acute diarrhoea instead.

Yemen is enduring a brutal civil war amid a dire humanitarian crisis. A Saudi-led coalition entered Yemen in 2015 to support internationally recognised President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi against the Iranian-backed Houthis.

As a result of the conflict, medical staff in Yemen received their last regular salary a year ago however many continue to work unpaid.