A cholera outbreak in Yemen “continues to spiral out of control,” according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which says there are now over 300,000 suspected cases of the water-borne disease.
The country is also struggling to battle famine in the midst of a two-year war between a Saudi-led coalition and Shiite rebels who control the capital city of Sana’a.
The World Food Program has reported that two-thirds of Yemen’s population does not know where their next meal will come from.
“Disturbing. We’re at 300k+ suspected cases with ~7k new cases/day,” ICRC Regional Director Robert Mardini said in a tweet.
“More than 1,600 have died,” the ICRC tweeted.
Cholera is a highly contagious bacterial infection that can be spread through contaminated food and water. The disease thrives in impoverished areas like Yemen.
Although easily treatable, the disease is spreading in war-torn Yemen as less than half of all medical facilities have become useless.
According to the U.N’.s Humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, most of the $1.1 billion in aid promised to Yemen has not been delivered yet, causing food security to become even more of a problem.
“Humanitarian Organizations have had to reprogram their resources away from malnutrition and reuse them to control the cholera outbreak,” he said in Sana’a last week. “We’re trying to do our best, but its very much beyond what we can cope with.”
…