Diphtheria outbreak kills 91 in Yemen – WHO April deadliest month for civilians – UN
A diphtheria outbreak has killed 91 people in war-torn Yemen since late October, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
In a statement, the UN agency said some 1,725 suspected cases of diphtheria have been registered in 20 of Yemen’s 23 provinces, Anadolu Agency reported.
The statement came a day after a UN briefing note revealed that some 236 civilians were killed in the country in April making it the “deadliest” month for the war-torn state this year.
WHO listed Ibb and Al-hodeidah provinces in central and western Yemen as the hardest-hit by the disease.
Diphtheria spreads as easily as the common cold through sneezing, coughing or even talking, according to health officials.
Mainly affecting children, diphtheria can cause devastating epidemics if left unchecked.yemen has been racked by violence since 2014. The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a devastating air campaign aimed at undermining the Houthi Ansarullah movement and reinstating former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.
The ongoing violence has devastated basic services, including water and sanitation systems, prompting the UN to describe the situation in Yemen as one of “the world’s worst humanitarian disasters in modern times.”
Sharp increase in casualties
A UN briefing on Friday said that, “The month of April was the deadliest month for civilians in Yemen so far this year, with a sharp increase in casualties.”
“At least 236 civilians were killed and 238 injured in Yemen in April – a total of 474 civilian casualties, well over double the 180 civilian casualties documented in March this year,” the UN briefing added, middleeastmonitor.com reported.
“In the first week of May, the heavy toll continued, with 63 civilian casualties documented by the UN Human Rights Office in Yemen, including six deaths and 57 people injured,” the report added.
This month, the Saudi-led coalition executed airstrikes in the Presidential Palace based in Sana’a during work hours.
The briefing note declared that it “doubts” the extent to which the principles of precaution, distinction and proportionality prescribed in international war law are being applied to avoid civilian deaths.
“Eyewitnesses told us that the same building was hit again about seven minutes after the first strike, causing additional casualties among the first responders to the first strike.
In another recent incident, 24 civilians were killed and 13 others injured by a coalition airstrike against a gas station in Hajjah Governorate,” the UN added.
Between March 26, 2015 and May 10, 2018, the UN documented a total of “16,432 civilian casualties – 6,385 dead and 10,047 injured”. Of these, 10,185 resulted from Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, it added.