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Yemen is seeing a sharp increase in the number of suspected cholera cases this year, as well as an increase in population displacements, the UN said.
Nearly 110,000 cases have been reported, resulting in 190 deaths in the country, which has been at war for four years this month. Nearly one-third of the 108,889 cases reported between January 1 and March 17 were children under five.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the outbreak, which comes two years after the worst cholera outbreak in Yemen, was concentrated in six governorates, including the port of Hodeidah on the Red Sea, and the province to the capital.
The early rains may be behind the recent increase in the number of suspected cases, according to Unocha.
"The situation is compounded by the poor maintenance of sewage disposal systems in many affected districts, the use of contaminated water for irrigation and population movements," he said. said the office.
Salem Jaffer Baobaid, project manager for Islamic Relief, based in Hodeidah, said he was concerned about new cases, as the situation of civilians worsened more and more.
"The drinking water is not well organized for the population and the challenges are many: lack of electricity and fuel, and treatment centers are overcrowded.
"Keep in mind that we are heading towards a hot summer season, where diseases spread more easily," he said.
Waterborne disease is endemic in Yemen. The worst outbreak of the disease in the country took place in 2017, when more than one million cases were reported and 2,500 people died of infection between April and December. Only half of the country's 3,500 medical facilities are fully functioning and nearly 20 million people do not have access to adequate health care. About 18 million of them do not have access to clean water or sanitation.
Baobaid said one of the staff members of Islamic Relief had contracted cholera last week and had been transferred to Sanaa due to deteriorating living conditions in the port city. He said he heard that a humanitarian partner was planning to support a new treatment center for help and diarrhea, but did not have any other details.
He added that residents were more and more worried about the ceasefire in Hodeidah after last night, when an intensive bombardment had occurred for four or five hours.
"Everyone in the city is talking about what happened last night. People were waiting for it to be better, so they are worried.
The UN also says that more than 10,000 families have been recently displaced after the fighting in Hajjah province in the north of the country.
A cease-fire was agreed between the Houthis and Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government at UN-sponsored talks in December.
A coalition of Saudis and the United Arab Emirates, backed by US and British arms, are fighting a Houthi-led insurgency that has taken control of Sana'a, the port of Hodeidah and vast areas of the north.
Yemen's economic situation continues to disintegrate as a result of the ongoing conflict. GDP has contracted about 39% since 2014.
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