Yemen grappling with ‘vicious’ combination of worst crises: UN

The United Nations has warned that the catastrophic situation in Yemen is turning into a combination of the world’s worst humanitarian crises amid almost daily Saudi bombardment of the impoverished Arab nation.

According to Press TV, in a joint statement on Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program (WFP) said Yemen is grappling with “the world’s worst cholera outbreak in the midst of the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.”

“In the last three months alone, 400,000 cases of suspected cholera and nearly 1,900 associated deaths have been recorded. Vital health, water and sanitation facilities have been crippled by more than 2 years of hostilities, and created the ideal conditions for diseases to spread,” the statement said.

“The country is on the brink of famine, with over 60 per cent of the population not knowing where their next meal will come from. Nearly 2 million Yemeni children are acutely malnourished. Malnutrition makes them more susceptible to cholera; diseases create more malnutrition.” the statement added.

The executive directors of the WHO, UNICEF and the WFP arrived in Yemen on Monday, visiting the Southern Province of Aden and the country’s Capital, Sana’a.

The UN top officials also met the self-styled Prime Minister, Ahmed bin Dagher, for talks on international aid delivery and ways to contain “the cholera epidemic which has spread to all provinces.”

The officials pointed to their observations during the visits, including hospitalized children “who can barely gather the strength to breathe” and the vital infrastructure, such as health and water facilities, which have been damaged or destroyed. 

“More than 30,000 health workers have not been paid their salaries in more than 10 months, but many still report for duty. We have asked the Yemeni authorities to pay these health workers urgently because, without them, we fear that people who would otherwise have survived may die,” the statement said. 

ME