WHO: suspected cholera cases in Yemen triple in three weeks
War and displacement are driving up infections. Only a fraction of the $31 million the WHO needs for its emergency response has been secured.
Symbolic image · Photo: T3n60 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Suspected cholera cases in Yemen have tripled in three weeks, from 217 in the week of Sept. 6-12 to 647 from Sept. 27 to Oct. 3, the World Health Organization said. Yemen has reported 8,034 suspected cases and 27 deaths so far this year, about a quarter of them in the past four weeks. The WHO links the rise to the escalating war, displacement and overcrowding; the International Organization for Migration says more than 217,000 people have fled their homes.
"Families fleeing conflict are now facing another threat from diseases that can be prevented and treated," said Annette Heinzelmann, the WHO's regional emergency director. The agency needs $31 million for a 90-day emergency response and has secured $3.78 million. Overcrowding, poor access to safe water and disrupted health services are exposing more people to cholera, measles and other preventable diseases, the WHO said.