GENEVA, 17 Oct. - (ANA) -  Yemen is seeing a surge in cholera – an acute and potentially fatal intestinal infection, which mostly spreads through water or food contaminated by human faeces. 

 

The country has reported 8,034 suspected cholera cases and 27 deaths this year, with a quarter of them occurring in the last four weeks.

 

Since August, 200,000 people have been displaced, which the UN’s health organization WHO notes coincides with a sharp increase in cholera transmission. 

 

Children also face serious risks from measles, with more than 22,800 suspected cases and 128 deaths reported this year. 

 

Vaccination coverage, at an estimated 45 per cent for each of the two recommended doses, is critically low in Yemen, increasing the risk of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.

 

 

 

 

Health facilities, which are already treating thousands of people injured in the fighting, are struggling to keep up with the growing disease burden. 

 

Approximately 500 health facilities across nine affected governorates lack partner support, the WHO found. 

 

The agency is working with the Yemeni government to strengthen surveillance, testing and treatment, but its 90-day emergency response is critically underfunded. It needs $31 million and has received just $4.3 million, less than 14 per cent of the total.

 

“Without urgent funding and unimpeded access to safe water, vaccination and essential health services, outbreaks could spread rapidly among already vulnerable communities,” said WHO official Dr Annette Heinzelmann.  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/17 October 2026 - - -