Death to toll of Yemeni children ‘to reach 50,000’
MORE than 50,000 Yemeni children are likely to die by the end of the year as a result of disease and starvation caused by the war in the country, Save the Children has warned.
Humanitarian groups estimate around 130 children are dying each day in the Arab world’s poorest country as it grapples with famine and a huge cholera outbreak.
Around 40,000 children are estimated to have died already this year as a result of severe acute malnutrition, and Save the Children projects that figure will be above 50,000 by the end of December. “These deaths are as senseless as they are preventable. They mean more than 100 mothers grieving for the death of a child, day after day,” said Tamer Kirolos, the group’s Yemen director.
The calculations were made before Saudi Arabia tightened an already severe blockade on rebel-held parts of the country in response to a missile fired towards Riyadh airport. The blockade has closed the port of Hodeidah, a key entry point for food, and the airport in the capital Sanaa, where flights have been landing to deliver aid.
Food shortages have filled hospitals with malnourished children, who are especially vulnerable to death as a result of cholera and other diarrhoeal diseases. Dr Najla al-Sonboli, the head of paediatrics at Sanaa’s Sabeen hospital, said she and her staff were seeing a new outbreak of diptheria.
Diptheria is highly contagious and Dr al-Sonboli has tried to keep infected children in isolation. But one boy arrived needing a mechanical ventilator to breathe and the only one working was in a ward where other children were staying.
“We had a choice: either let this child die or put him in the ward. I took my decision to save the child,” she said.
Despite the staff ’s efforts, the boy died soon after. (© Daily Telegraph London)