Local Editor
Ten-year-old Marwan Ahmed Mahyoub is the latest victim of ongoing food insecurity in Yemen, one of the unavoidable repercussions of war.
Unable to receive adequate treatment due to his father's unemployment and lack of money, Marwan is suffering from brain atrophy due to his severe malnutrition and poor access to nutritious food.
Nearly 17 million of Yemen's 28 million people are deemed "food insecure" by aid groups, and around 7 million do not know where they will get their next meal, according to the United Nations.
Two years of war between a Saudi-led military coalition and Yemen's Houthi movement have plunged what was already the Arab world's poorest country into a deep humanitarian crisis.
Public finances for healthcare are in disarray, while roads and bridges for transporting basic goods are bombed-out ruins.
"We did our best to treat him, but because of our life circumstances and the country's situation, his health condition has deteriorated and he hasn't been receiving adequate care," said Ahmed Mayhoub, Marwan's father.
His son had been showing progress in his treatment before Ahmed lost his job as a motorcycle delivery driver, earning money to provide for Marwan and his three siblings.
Stricken by diabetes, Marwan's father lost his job and his condition started deteriorating.
"The living conditions are difficult because I am unemployed and suffering from diabetes. And I don't have enough money to support him or myself," Ahmed said.
The U.N. has warned that a child under five years old dies every 10 minutes in Yemen from preventable causes.
Even before the war, villagers on the baking plains on Yemen's Red Sea coast were already struggling to get clean water, feed themselves and find medicine.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
