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Oxfam warned today that aid agencies in Yemen are fighting for nearly 40,000 people suspected of having the disease to be aware of the worst cholera outbreak in the world.
Fighting and access restrictions, including checkpoints and permit requirements imposed by warring parties, make access to certain affected areas extremely difficult.
The number of suspected cases is already increasing, with the impending rainy season likely to accelerate the spread of the disease due to flooding and contamination of water sources. In the last two weeks of March, about 2,500 suspected cases were reported each day, compared with about 1,000 per day in February. This is ten times more than the number of reported cases and related deaths during the same period in 2018.
More than 3,000 people have died since the beginning of the epidemic in 2016. At its peak in June 2017, 7,000 suspected cases were identified each day and the outbreak was described as the worst of the epidemic. history of humanity by the World Health Organization. Oxfam has calculated that if new suspected cases continue to be identified at current rates for the rest of the year, this peak of the epidemic will exceed that of 2017.
Muhsin Siddiquey, Country Director for Oxfam in Yemen, said, "The people of Yemen have already suffered the worst cholera outbreak in history, during more than four years of war and the collapse of the economy of Yemen. country. "To allow this disease to spread again in the country, causing even more unnecessary deaths would be a blot on the conscience of humanity. The international community urgently needs to ensure safe and unhindered access to humanitarian badistance for all people in need in the country. It is suspected that 195,000 people have contracted the disease so far this year, of which more than 38,000 in districts are hard to reach for humanitarian organizations.
Earlier this month, Oxfam was forced to move to its offices in Shafer, Hajjah governorate in the north of the country, as fighting took place in the suburbs of the city. It provides drinking water and money to buy food for more than half a million people in neighboring districts.
Fighting continues on various fronts across the country, including Hudaydah, Taizz and Hajjah, three governorates where the majority of cholera-related deaths have been reported.
Continued conflict, air strikes and access restrictions have left 14 million people at risk of starvation in Yemen. Nearly half of children aged six months to five are chronically malnourished.
The ongoing conflict has resulted in deterioration of water supply and sanitation systems throughout Yemen. Clean water and adequate sanitation are essential to prevent cholera. The UN estimates that in Yemen 17.8 million people need help to get clean water.
In Yemen, only half of health facilities are functional and many people can not afford the cost of treatment.
Siddiquey said: "Jobs being destroyed and wages unpaid, the role of humanitarian agencies present in Yemen, which provide clean water, food and medical care, is more vital than ever. Delays imposed in the delivery of aid threaten the lives of more than one million Yemenis already exhausted by four years of war. "
Oxfam and its local partners are working to prevent the spread of cholera in parts of the governorates of Aran, Ta'izz and Al Dale'e, including transporting fresh water, repairing water supply systems and sanitation. sanitation and distributing soap, laundry, ponds and jerrycans. Oxfam is also helping health authorities and local response teams disseminate information on how cholera is transmitted, its symptoms and its prevention. // End To arrange an interview with an Oxfam spokesperson in Yemen or the UK, contact Kai Tabacek at [email protected] / +44 (0) 7584 265 077 .
Notes to editors:
The list of difficult access districts was established by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in January 2019 and is available at the following address: https://data.humdata.org/dataset District-level cholera cases have been compiled by the World Health Organization's Emergency Operations Center and are available at the following address: http: // yemeneoc.org/bi/. Oxfam has included suspected cases from 1 January to 7 April 2019.
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