Yemen sterilises Sanaa water supplies
DISEASES SPREAD: WHO warns of cholera outbreak accelerating if precautions are not taken immediately
SANAA: Authorities in the Ansar Allah-held Yemeni capital Sanaa are sterilising water supplies at wells, distribution networks and houses to help stem the world’s worst outbreak of cholera.
Nearly four years of war between a coalition and the Ansar Allah group have crippled healthcare and sanitation systems in Yemen, where some 1.2 million suspected cholera cases have been reported since 2017, with 2,515 deaths.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned in October that the outbreak is accelerating again with roughly 10,000 suspected cases now reported per week, double the average rate for the first eight months of 2018.
Most cases have been reported in areas held by the Ansar Allah movement, which controls most population centres after ousting the internationally recognised government from Sanaa in 2014.
“We receive information of reported cases of cholera from the Ministry of Health, then the team sterilises the house and 20 houses around it,” Nabeel Abdullah al Wazeer, the Ansar Allah minister of water, said in Sanaa.
“We worked from house to house and on sterilising water wells. We also worked on bus-mounted tanks, which transport water in the private sector to the citizens, as well as sterilising local institutions which distribute water.”
Adel Moawada, director-general of technical affairs at Sanaa’s main water sanitation plant, said there are currently 20 automated chlorination units installed in wells directly linked to the capital’s water distribution network.
Cholera, which is spread by consuming contaminated food or water, is a diarrhoea disease and can kill within hours. While previous outbreaks may have helped build immunity in the population, other diseases and widespread malnutrition can weaken resilience. The United Nations says about 14 million people, or half of Yemen’s population, could soon face famine. Some 1.8 million children are malnourished, according to Unicef.
Children account for 30 per cent of cholera infections. Pediatrician Mohammed Abdulmughni administers intravenous fluids to children in WHO tents in Sanaa. Their beds rest on gravel and flies circle their faces.
“With winter’s arrival we expected the numbers would decrease, yet the cases have been coming in at the same pace,” he said. “We expected positive (diagnoses) cases to decrease but the cases remain high.”
If caught early, acute diarrhoea can be treated with oral hydration salts, but more severe cases require intravenous fluids and antibiotics.
More than 250,000 cases of cholera have been recorded in Yemen since the beginning of 2018, with 358 associated deaths, Unicef representative Meritxell Relano said.