Three out of four children in Yemen suffer from “malnutrition”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced that three-quarters of children in Yemen suffer from “malnutrition.”
The announcement was made today (Monday 25 October) via social media.
As the WHO’s Yemen group has said, “in Yemen today, 3 out of 4 children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition.”
“Our duty is to do our utmost to save their lives and alleviate their suffering,” the WHO added.
The continuing war in Yemen has damaged and destroyed numerous health facilities. Just half of the health system is currently functioning, according to previous United (UN) reports.
The seven-year war has killed more than 233,000 people and left 80% of the population –a figure amounting to 30 million people – dependent on aid to survive, constituting the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world”, according to the United Nations.
Regional involvement in the conflict has greatly increased the war’s complexity and lethality. Since March 2015, an Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia has carried out military operations in support of government forces against the Iran-backed Houthis. The latter force controls several governorates, including that of the national capital, Sanaa.
Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) has repeatedly called for an end to the war in Yemen, and for the international community to pressure the various parties to the conflict to submit to a ceasefire, in a conflict that has already been claimed 100s of 1000s of victims.