![Medical staff stand near girl, receving treatment, at the Sana'a Children's Hospital in Yemen on October 10, 2022. [Mohammed Hamoud - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/AA-20221011-29127221-29127209-MALNUTRITION_AND_ILLNESS_POSE_SERIOUS_RISKS_TO_MANY_CHILDREN_IN_YEMEN-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
At least ten Yemeni children with leukaemia have died, while nine others are in critical condition after receiving expired medication in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, held by Houthi militias, news agencies reported on Friday.
“Ten children suffering from leukaemia have died,” the Health Ministry of the Houthis announced in a statement, adding that they were among a group of 19 patients aged between three and 15.
Since the start of the war in Yemen in 2014, there has been a lack of access to basic resources, including food and medicine, leading to the creation of large smuggling networks to supply the required goods.
Houthi officials secretly work in partnership with medicine smugglers who often sell expired treatment to private clinics from storage houses across the country, several doctors in Sanaa told AFP.
The Health Ministry in Sanaa confirmed that its investigations found: “Bacterial contamination in the containers used for the medicine.”
A source in Sanaa, who requested anonymity out of fear of the Houthis, expects that the number of children affected could be higher than 19 because there were 50 children in the same unit.
According to AFP, families of the children refused to speak to the media, fearing a revengeful reaction by the Houthis.
According to a United Nations report, the war in Yemen has resulted in the deaths of more than 377,000 people, including thousands who died due to contaminated food and water or famine.
READ: UN envoy warns of ‘heightened risk of war’ after end of Yemen truce