Local Editor
The United Nations health agency has warned that more than 15.2 million Yemenis now lack access to health care services, well over half the war-torn country’s total population, yet there is a 55 per cent gap in requested international funding to address the crisis.
"The intensification of conflict in Yemen since March 2015 has pushed Yemen’s already weakened health system to the brink of collapse," the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said in its latest update, appealing to the international community to step up its donations and warning that the crisis has not yet peaked.
"Health services in Yemen are at their breaking point. Unless the health system receives sufficient support, immediately, it could collapse completely," WHO warns, calling on Member States to provide additional funding, deploy medical teams and advocate for the protection of health workers and facilities and for the unrestricted delivery of medical supplies.
"The crisis has not reached its peak," it stresses. "There is no political solution to the current conflict in sight. And, with 20 million people lacking access to safe water and sanitation, conditions are ripe for a major disease outbreak."
Since the outbreak of violence in 2014, the UN has been working with the Yemeni parties, regional countries and Member States in efforts to achieve a ceasefire and a resumption of a political transition towards a peaceful, stable and democratic country - so far in vain.
Women and children are particularly vulnerable, with over 500,000 children suffering from life-threatening malnutrition and becoming increasingly susceptible to communicable diseases like measles and polio.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
