Cholera epidemic

MORE than two years of heavy conflict in Yemen has resulted in the world’s worst cholera outbreak which has killed over 1 300 people and infected more than 200 000, the World Health Organisation and the UN Children’s Fund said on Saturday.

The outbreak is a consequence of conflict which started in March 2015 and has destroyed health, water and sanitation systems, cutting off 14.5 million people from regular access to clean water and sanitation and increasing the ability of the disease to spread. Rising malnutrition has also weakened children’s health and made them more vulnerable to the disease.