[10/06/2017 06:44]

GENEVA-SABA

The World Health Organization has announced that cholera is in the apex of proliferation in Yemen as 102 thousand cases of infections and 791 death toll have been reported.

The epidemic is hitting the vulnerable sections of people the hardest; as 46% of the infected are found to be children, 33% to be elderly, according to the WHO.

The epidemic spread in 19 out of 23 Yemeni provinces, but most of those infections occurred in Ibb, Dhamar, Hajjah and Mahweet.

Containing the epidemic in these hotspots will keep it at bay, slow it is spillover and save lives.

Tariq Jarasivik, the WHO spokesman in Geneva said the country's available capacities are not up to the epidemic, since more than half the medical facilities in Yemen are out of service and over 14.5 million people in Yemen have no access to potable drinking water and sanitary services.

Besides, public health servants have not received their salaries for eight months now.

Rampant malnutrition makes things worse, the WHO spokesman said, adding that the organization has made some interventions to improve hygiene; water facilities and sanitation.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, 27 April, the WHO provided Yemen with 197 sachets of intravenous fluids, beds and medicines; set up 100 diarrhea treatment centers and 166 dehydration treatment centers; and, in 25 May, dispatched by plane 67 tons of medicines and medical tools.

King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid implemented several programs to the same end of containing the epidemic.

In 25 May, the center signed a USD 8,224,299 anti-cholera program with the WHO. The center also dispatched, by land, a USD1,200,000 worth of medicines and equipment for the diagnosis and tackling of cholera across the country.

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