The epidemic has already spread faster than any outbreak of cholera since modern records began – and is now the largest in recent history.
About 4,000 suspected cases are still being reported every day, more than half of them children under the age of 18. Of those infected, 25 percent of cases are children under the age of five.
As of October 10, the World Health Organization has reported 815,314 suspected cases and 2,156 deaths across Yemen since April 27. That means the outbreak has today surpassed the 815,000 cases reported over seven years in Haiti. In Yemen, it has reached that level in less than six months. At current rates, Save the Children estimates the total caseload is likely to break one million by December.
“Cholera has been around in Yemen for a long time, but we’ve never seen an outbreak of this scale or speed. It’s what you get when a country is brought to its knees by conflict, when a healthcare system is on the brink of collapse, when its children are starving, and when its people are blocked from getting the medical treatment they need,” said Tamer Kirolos, Save the Children’s Country Director for Yemen.
“There’s no doubt this is a man-made crisis. Cholera only rears its head when there’s a complete and total breakdown in sanitation. All parties to the conflict must take responsibility for the health emergency we find ourselves in.”
Recent research by Save the Children found that there are more than one million acutely malnourished children under the age of five living in areas where cholera infection levels are high. Children with acute malnutrition are at least three times more likely to die from diarrheal diseases like cholera.
Diarrheal diseases like cholera are also themselves a leading cause of malnutrition – raising fears that even if children survive the outbreak they could be pushed further toward starvation.
“It’s simply unacceptable that children are trapped in a brutal cycle of starvation and sickness. We are dealing with a horrific scenario of babies and young children who are not only malnourished but also infected with cholera,” Kirolos added.
“The tragedy is both malnutrition and cholera are easily treatable if you have access to basic healthcare. But hospitals have been destroyed, 30,000 public sector health workers haven't been paid for almost a year, and the delivery of vital aid is being obstructed. The world must act now to prevent more children from dying from an entirely preventable illness.”
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