United Nations: 250,000 People Deprived of Healthcare in Taiz
The United Nations has warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis in Yemen, with nearly 300,000 people displaced since early August due to the recent escalation. Meanwhile, about a quarter of a million people in the city of Taiz face a lack of basic healthcare amid continued road closures and shortages of medical supplies and fuel.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement on Monday that the new wave of displacement comes at a time when Yemen already has about 5.2 million internally displaced persons out of an estimated population of 42 million.
The office added that the humanitarian situation in Taiz is of particular concern, with all roads leading to the city closed due to fighting and the interruption of commercial supplies, which has led to a decline in health services and a shortage of essential medical supplies.
It explained that about 250,000 people have been deprived of basic healthcare, including more than 186,000 children under five and 23,000 pregnant women, warning that 12 hospitals are at risk of closure after being forced to reduce their services due to a lack of fuel and vital supplies.
It pointed to the registration of more than 1,400 cases of acute diarrhea and suspected cholera in a single week, an indicator of increasing health risks coinciding with the declining response capacity of medical facilities.
In the context of UN actions, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, discussed the worsening humanitarian crisis, the situation of the displaced in Taiz, increasing needs, and the necessity of ensuring aid reaches the most vulnerable groups during a phone call with Yemeni Foreign Minister Afrah Al-Zouba.
OCHA said the United Nations and its partners in the health sector are working on a 90-day emergency plan to ensure the continuation of life-saving services, restore suspended health services, and strengthen disease surveillance systems.
It mentioned that the humanitarian response has so far reached more than 254,000 displaced people by providing food aid, hygiene kits, and emergency cash assistance.
The office reiterated its call to all parties to the conflict to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, respect international humanitarian law, and ensure safe, sustained, and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid, stressing the need to secure access to the city of Taiz.
المصدر: United Nations
