WHO launches cholera vaccination campaign in Yemen

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has launched a vaccination campaign to combat the cholera epidemic in Yemen nearly 18 months after it was due to be started.

According to the WHO there have been more than one million suspected cases of cholera in Yemen and 2,775 registered deaths as a result of the disease since November 2016.

The campaign began in four districts in Aden on Sunday and targets 350,000 people. Health officials fear the rainy season being experience by the country could spread the disease.

WHO Assistant Director General, Michael Ryan, told a press briefing on Monday: “We have plans in place for extending that to all of the at-risk zones and we are still negotiating with health authorities in the north of the country, in Sana’a, in order to plan those campaigns.”

Read: Yemen risks new cholera outbreak as rainy season begins

“As of yet we don’t have established dates for those campaigns, but we are ready to move… just as soon as we get those necessary approvals,” he added.

Ryan said sewage and water treatment systems had been destroyed in many parts in Yemen and access to health care was still very limited.