UNICEF: 2.2m Yemen children suffer from acute malnutrition

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said yesterday that 2.2 million Yemeni children are suffering from acute malnutrition and need immediate care.

“As the fourth year of conflict in Yemen approaches, the humanitarian situation in the country continues to deteriorate day after day,” the organisation said in a statement posted on its website.

Yemen’s health care system has collapsed, more than half of the health facilities have been shut down and health workers have not been paid for years

it said.

The statement warned that the increase in cholera cases in the past few weeks makes the possibility of a third wave of the pandemic possible in addition to the spread of food insecurity in the country.

“An estimated 16.37 million people in Yemen are in need of basic health care,” the statement said, adding that some 2.2 million Yemeni children suffer from acute malnutrition and need immediate care, including 400,000 children who are severely malnourished and at risk of dying if they do not receive urgent assistance.

UNICEF: Yemen’s children need help

Despite the tragic situation in Yemen, health workers continue to struggle every day to give every child a chance to get proper health care to survive, the statement added.

For nearly four years, Yemen has been battling a war between government forces and Houthi militants who have been taken control of several provinces including the capital, Sanaa since 2014.

An Arab military alliance, led by Saudi Arabia, has been supporting Yemeni government forces against the Houthis.