A rapidly spreading cholera outbreak in Yemen has claimed 1,500 lives since April and is suspected of sickening 246,000 people, said the World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday.
Dr. Nevio Zagaria, WHO representative in Yemen, said in a news conference in Sanaa that the number of suspected cases in the country’s second outbreak of cholera in six months has multiplied tenfold in the last two months.
The death toll rose from 1,300 as announced two weeks ago by WHO, which put the number of suspected cases at 200,000 at the time. The organization said that a quarter of those killed by the disease in the war-torn country are children.
A two-year war has damaged infrastructure and caused medicine shortages in the country.
Earlier, the WHO thanked Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his donation of $66.7 million to stop the spread of cholera in Yemen. In response to an urgent call for funding, the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid (KSRelief) in Saudi Arabia announced the donation to UNICEF, WHO and their partners.
“On behalf of the WHO regional office, I extend deep thanks and appreciation to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his noble initiative in the humanitarian field, to support efforts which aim to alleviate suffering, (and) provide relief through working to contain cholera and prevent its complications in Yemen,” said Mahmoud Fikri, WHO regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean.

Source: Arab News