The "cholera scandal" in Yemen

Lack of hygiene and lack of cholera vaccines have had a negative impact on the work of humanitarian organizations in Yemen and its efforts to control cholera, affecting more than 1.2 million people. Yemen is the country the more touched in history, according to a recent study by the Johns Hopkins Center for American Human Health

The study notes that organizations did not have enough plan to prepare for and deal with cholera before the epidemics, although it has already spread to some countries in the region, such as Somalia and Iraq.
The country has frequently developed a cholera response plan in 2016 and 2017, and initially did not prioritize measurement tools and other key elements of cholera control. The survey found "initial gaps in organizations' work, including analyzes to diagnose the appropriate response, use an oral cholera vaccine, monitor community behavior, prevent and control infections, and develop diagnostic capabilities. "

According to the study, treatment centers were not sufficiently decentralized and did not guarantee access to as many patients as possible. "The organizations' strategy is focused on creating centers around health facilities rather than on the spread of diseases and isolated areas, the majority of those who live there do not have the money necessary to go to the health centers.

The study, titled "Readiness and Response to the Epidemic", aimed to draw lessons from the fight against cholera, which has made Yemen one of the leading countries in the world. victims, from its first wave in September 2016 to the beginning of the third wave in March, to better prepare for the cholera epidemic.

The study indicates that surveillance systems and laboratories are not well developed, particularly with regard to the surveillance of cholera outbreaks in emergency situations. The number of suspected cases reported by organizations is likely to be overestimated relative to the actual number. However, the lack of a clear methodology makes it difficult to treat suspected simple cases.

Despite the rapid spread of cholera, organizations have been slow to provide technical support to the most vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women and severely malnourished children. Organizations have not sought to allow communities to refer patients to treatment and control the spread of the disease to ensure continuity of prevention, as reported in the study.

The study attributed some of the factors contributing to the spread of the disease to the refusal of sanitary authorities in Sanaa to import and use an oral vaccine against cholera. At one time, it did not really treat organizations. The study recommended that humanitarian organizations improve their procedures to prepare for and prevent the spread of the disease during emergencies, given the weakness of public health systems. Recommendations included "developing laboratories to better treat cholera cases, improving control, adopting international standards of measurement and greater attention to coordination between them", asking the United Nations United to take a stronger stance on the protection of sanitation and water supply and sanitation infrastructure. The health.

For its part, a humanitarian activist described the study as a "humanitarian scandal", which several countries had attended before. The source, who declined to be identified, said that "the study is a humanitarian scandal that humanitarian organizations are conducting without anyone revealing it, or maybe no one is interested." to reveal it, knowing that Yemen is accustomed to neglecting international organizations until it suffers the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world since 2014. " He stressed that organizations in Yemen are focusing on "raising the largest amount of funding without paying the slightest attention to improving their operations and finding durable and sustainable solutions".
"They have not contributed to the prevention of poor local health practices, especially in the countryside, and have not adhered to global strategies for disease prevention," he said.

This study is the first of its kind, published by an independent third party on the disease and the results achieved by international organizations to combat it in Yemen. The study examined 114 documents for organizations and the Yemeni Ministry of Health, as well as 71 workers and financiers working in the field of disease control, funded by the United Kingdom Development Agency and the European Union. European.

Yemen has witnessed three waves of cholera outbreaks: the first began at the end of September 2016 and continued until February 2017. The second began at the end of April 2017 and is still underway. is continued until the beginning of November of the same year. And the third appeared in September.
According to UN agencies, 9.3 million Yemenis are in desperate need of health care. The worsening health situation has also contributed to epidemics of cholera and diphtheria.