Up to the end of June, there have been 246,000 suspected cases of cholera across Yemen since Iranian-backed Al Houthi militia deposed the legitimate and internationally recognised government. That act of sedition has dragged the nation into a cycle of violence, creating the conditions where the waterborne disease thrives in the filth and chaos of displaced people crowded together in poor and unsanitary living conditions. According to officials at the World Health Organisation, the death toll from this cholera crisis has passed 1,500 and most of the victims are the young and vulnerable.
Medical and aid workers can easily treat the disease, providing life-saving fluids and anti-bacterial drugs, but the difficulty in reaching isolated clusters and camps mean that thousands are at risk. And with a food supply tenuous and proper supplies of clean water proving to be inadequate, the disease takes hold in young bodies weakened by malnutrition. Make no mistake, the international coalition working to restore the legitimate government in Yemen – and the UAE is proud to be playing a leading part – is also providing humanitarian relief and emergency supplies to meet the needs of our Arab brothers at this difficult and challenging time.
So far, the UAE has provided more than $2 billion (Dh7.34 billion) in aid to alleviate the suffering endured on Yemenis by a group who have no interest other than retaining their illegal and tenuous grasp of power. Cholera is a disease that is easily overcome when there is order and a continuous supply of medication and aid agencies able to dispense treatment. The reality is for as long as Al Houthis and their warlords in Tehran continue this fruitless insanity, the vulnerable children of Yemen will suffer needlessly.
