More Than 500,000 Infected With Cholera in Yemen

Civilization of Development and Freedoms

Cholera is a endemic disease in Yemen, located on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula and across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia. But the disease, caused by bacteria in contaminated water, has spread rapidly since April.

The civil war and bombing by neighboring Saudi Arabia has paralyzed much of the country’s water distribution system, destroyed hospitals and forced large numbers of people to flee their homes.

By contrast, cholera has killed about 10,000 people in Haiti since UN peacekeepers returned them in 2010, leading to the country’s first outbreak in 50 years.

WHO and partner organizations are setting up treatment clinics in Yemen that offer oral and IV rehydration therapy. Can kill cholera within hours, but more than 99 per cent of victims who reach centers survive, according to the World Health Organization

The chaos is so prevalent in Yemen that more than 30,000 doctors and nurses there have not paid for more than a year.

“They have to be paid so that they can continue to save lives,” said WHO Director-General Tidros Adanum Grepress.