Yemen: half-a-million children severely emaciated

A health worker measures the arm of a malnourished child at a treatment centre in the Khokha district of the western Yemeni province of Hodeida on July 26, 2023 [KHALED ZIAD/AFP via Getty Images]

The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on Monday that 540,000 Yemeni children under the age of five are severely emaciated. The WHO made its announcement in a post on X to mark World Humanitarian Day.

“Yemen faces a double burden of disease and conflict, whereby 17.8 million need health assistance, including 540,000 children under 5 with severe wasting,” said the UN-affiliated organisation. “With ongoing conflict and a collapsing healthcare system, it is crucial that we #ActForHumanity.”

The health sector in Yemen faces difficult challenges, amid great suffering experienced by most citizens who are in dire need of assistance due to the repercussions of the war that has been ongoing for a decade.

READ: Acute malnutrition in areas controlled by Yemeni gov’t increases by 34% in 2024: UN

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