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Friday, 21 April 2023
Dear journalists,
At today´s regular UN bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, Dr. Annette Heinzelmann, Health Emergencies Team Lead from WHO office in Yemen provided an update on health situation and needs in Yemen.
Below is the opening Statement made by Dr Heinzelmann:
Good morning to you all and thank you for this opportunity to share an update on the health crisis in Yemen – where nine years of armed conflict have left 21.6 of 31.5 million people in acute need of humanitarian and protection services, and about 12.9 million people are targeted by urgent humanitarian health care.
540,000 Yemeni children under age five are currently suffering from severe acute malnutrition with a direct risk of death. 46 percent of health facilities across the country are only partially functioning or completely out of service due to shortages of staff, funds, electricity, or medicines.
Recent political talks have raised new hopes that lasting peace might finally be achievable in Yemen.Nevertheless, the country’s fragile health system is severely overburdened and edging closer to collapse, while international donor funding is insufficient to avert further deterioration of the country’s failing health services.
As of the first of April, the Yemen Health Cluster – composed of 46 UN and non-governmental organizations -- has received only 62 million – or 16 percent -- of the US$392 million needed to reach 12.9 million most-vulnerable people with urgent and life-saving health assistance.
Disease outbreaks – notably of measles, diphtheria, dengue, cholera and polio – are accelerating Yemen’s deepening health crisis.Mass-displacements, overburdened health facilities, disruptions of water and sanitation networks, and low immunization coverage are triggering and spreading these disease outbreaks.
In the first quarter 2023, more than 13,000 new cases of measles, 8,777 cases of dengue fever, and 2,080 suspected cholera cases were reported. But the actual numbers are likely much higher, due to gaps in surveillance system.
WHO has managed to sustain an integrated response to Yemen’s health crisis in ten priority areas: coordinating the national Health Cluster; keeping therapeutic feeding centres (TFCs) operational; strengthening disease surveillance; responding to all infectious disease outbreaks; supporting health care facilities and services; controlling vector-borne, water-borne, and neglected tropical diseases; fighting chronic diseases including diabetes, renal diseases, and cancer; maintaining water, sanitation and hygiene services in health facilities to strengthen infection prevention and control measures; supporting and improving maternal and newborn health care; and responding to a neglected mental health crisis.
Supported by international donors, WHO was able to provide essential medical equipment, supplies, and training in 2022. 7.8 million people—62 percent of the 12.6 million people targeted under the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for 2022—were thus reached with lifesaving health services.
WHO also ensured life-saving care for 60,200 Yemeni children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) with medical complications. Since 2020, WHO, UNICEF and Gavi (the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) have been administering an average of 25 million doses of WHO-prequalified vaccines every year However, WHO and other UN agencies in Yemen have become the targets of widespread fear-based disinformation campaigns on radio, television and social media that are designed to undermine community trust in vaccination efforts, and in UN agencies that are leading them and a decline in acceptance of vaccination was reported from ongoing vaccination campaigns.
At present, WHO and health partners in Yemen are beginning to see the dire consequences of our severely underfunded efforts to mitigate Yemen’s health crisis. Just one example among many is the expected suspension of support by the Yemen Health Cluster to 23 out of 43 health facilities in the Marib district, which is host to Yemen’s largest population of internally displaced persons (IDPs). This suspension will effectively stop health care services for about 2.8 million most vulnerable people in the area.
WHO is also being forced to reduce our support to therapeutic feeding centers across the country, which will clearly lead to countless more infant and child deaths from starvation. We also have almost no funds available to prepare for Yemen’s annual flood season that is starting now and will bring a predictably major upsurge in vector-borne and water-borne disease outbreaks such as malaria, dengue fever and cholera/ acute watery diarrhea in the 113 at risk districts. WHO Yemen funding needs in 2023 are estimated at about 130 Million USD.
In closing, I must emphasize the consequences of Yemen becoming a forgotten humanitarian crisis. The Yemeni people are resilient but suffering greatly. More than two of every three Yemenis are dependent on food, medical, and other humanitarian assistance. The international community must scale up its financial support to Yemen to avert untold human suffering and deaths in coming months.
Thank you very much.
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