Gulf News Report
Dubai: Three charter planes have delivered 36 tonnes of lifesaving medical and water purification supplies to Yemen to scale up efforts to combat the world’s worst cholera outbreak, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) said in a statement.
Supplies included 750,000 sachets of Oral Rehydration Salt (ORS), enough to treat 10,000 people, 10.5 million water purification tablets and other sanitation items.
“We are in a race against time. Our teams are working with partners not only to provide treatment to the sick and raise awareness among communities, but also to rapidly replenish and distribute supplies and medicines,” Sherin Varkey, Unicef Deputy Representative in Yemen was quoted as saying. “More airlifts of critical supplies will continue in the coming days.”
Cholera has spread to almost every governorate of Yemen. Already more than 1,300 people have died — a quarter of them children. UN agencies warned that the nummber of cholera cases could reach 300,000 by August.
Since the outbreak was reported on April 27, Unicef has distributed over 600,000 ORS sachets and 20,000 Intravenous (IV) fluids to oral rehydration points and at homes.
With partners, Unicef has supported the establishment of 488 oral rehydration therapy points and more than 20 diarrhoea treatment centres across the country.
