Geneva - Sana'a: Europe and the Arabs
The World Health Organization said that Yemen bears the largest burden of cholera cases globally, noting that the country has suffered from continuous cholera transmission for many years, and recorded the largest cholera outbreak in modern history between 2017 and 2020. According to the United Nations Daily News Bulletin
In a statement issued by the organization yesterday, Monday, it stated that as of December 1, Yemen had reported 249,900 suspected cases of cholera, and 861 cholera-related deaths had occurred since the beginning of the year.
It added that this represents 35 percent of the global cholera burden and 18 percent of the deaths reported globally.
She pointed out that the number of reported cases and deaths increased in November 2024 by 37 percent and 27 percent compared to the same month in 2023.
She explained that this increase is related to the number of cases this year with the update of data from Yemen, where more detailed data was added from all Yemeni governorates.
Severe funding shortage
Dr. Arturo Pesigan, WHO Representative and Head of Mission in Yemen, said that waterborne disease outbreaks, such as cholera and acute watery diarrhea, impose an additional burden on the health system, which is already suffering from multiple disease outbreaks.
He stressed that WHO and humanitarian actors are "struggling to meet the increasing needs in light of the severe funding shortage."
He warned that "the lack of access to safe drinking water, poor hygiene practices in local communities, and limited opportunities for timely treatment are all further hindering efforts to prevent and combat the disease."
The organization pointed out that combating cholera in Yemen requires urgent and comprehensive interventions that include coordination, surveillance, laboratory capacities, case management, community engagement initiatives, water, sanitation and hygiene, and oral cholera vaccinations, noting that the cholera response in Yemen faces a funding gap of US$20 million.
It said that between March and the end of November 2024, 47 diarrhea treatment centers and 234 oral rehydration centers were closed due to lack of funding.
Disease control efforts
The World Health Organization reported that since the outbreak of the latest cholera outbreak in March 2024, it has supported more than 25,000 missions of rapid response teams to investigate alerts and initiate control measures at the local level, and provided reagents and laboratory supplies to support efforts to confirm cases of infection in 12 central public health laboratories. The organization added that it purchased essential medicines, medical supplies, water, sanitation, hygiene, and infection prevention and control supplies and distributed these medicines and supplies to health facilities, including the 18 diarrhea treatment centers supported by the organization. The organization also trained more than 800 health workers in case management, and supported the Ministry of Public Health and Population with an oral cholera vaccination campaign to provide protection to about 3.2 million people in 34 districts in six governorates in Yemen.