WHO:

Yemen Cholera Cases Could Hit 300,000 within Six Months

Rasa - The World Health Organization said on Friday that Yemen could have as many as 300,000 cases of cholera within six months and an "extremely high" number of deaths.

News ID: 429762

Date: 20 May 2017 - 23:28

RNA - "We need to expect something that could go up to 200,000-250,000 cases over the next six months, in addition to the 50,000 cases that have already occurred," Nevio Zagaria, WHO Yemen representative, told reporters in Geneva by phone, Reuters reported.

He stressed that the cost in lives from this will be will be "extremely, extremely high".

The epidemic began in October 2016 and grew until December. It dwindled but was never fully under control, Zagaria said, and new cases had arisen with the rainy season, worsened by the collapse of the economy and the health system.

He added that the outbreak has caused 23,425 cases in 18 of Yemen's 23 governorates since April 27, and 242 people have died.

Yemen has been ruined by two years of war, with 18.8 million people needing humanitarian aid, many of them on the brink of famine, and less than 45 percent of health facilities fully functional.

Zagaria said sufferers were overwhelming Yemen's remaining hospitals, but it would be better to treat them in specialised centres, 50 of which are already operating, along with 300 oral rehydration points. But such numbers were too few, and the WHO will release an emergency response plan in the next 48 hours.

"We have a target of 350 cholera treatment centres and 2,000 oral rehydration points, and we are covering around 10-12 percent of this target at the moment," he added.

Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen since March 2015 to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed at least 14,100 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children.

Despite Riyadh's claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

According to several reports, the Saudi-led air campaign against Yemen has drove the impoverished country towards humanitarian disaster.

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