Yemen suffers catastrophe in health service

NEARLY 2.2 million Yemeni children are acutely malnourished, victims of the near-collapse of health care system during two years of escalating conflict, UN children’s fund Unicef said yesterday.

The agency said at least 462 000 were suffering from severe malnutrition, as food supplies had been disrupted by the devastating war between the Saudi-backed government and Shiite rebels.

Saada province, a rebel bastion in the north, had the world’s highest stunting rate among children with eight out of 10 children affected in some areas, Unicef said.

“The state of health of children in the Middle East’s poorest country has never been as catastrophic as it is today,” agency representative Meritxell Relano said.

At least one child dies every 10 minutes in Yemen because of malnutrition and preventable diseases such as diarrhoea and respiratory infections.

“Diseases such as cholera and measles have spread and, with few health facilities functional, such outbreaks are taking a heavy toll on children,” Relano said.

,This year Unicef supported the treatment of 215 000 children suffering from severe malnutrition and provided more than four million children under the age of five with vitamin supplements.

But relief operations remain hindered by funding shortfalls and limited access to battleground areas.

Relano appealed for unhindered access to all areas.