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STORY: WHO / YEMEN CHOLERA
TRT: 01:53
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTION: NONE
LANGUGAE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 21 DECEMBER 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / 20 DECEMBER 2017, SAANA AIRPORT, YEMEN
20 DECEMBER 2017, SAANA AIRPORT, YEMEN
1. Various shots, health supplies arriving at Saana airport
21 DECEMBER 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Tarik Jasarevic, Spokesperson, World Health Organization (WHO):
“According to the latest epidemiological data we have, we are rapidly approaching one million suspected cholera cases in Yemen since April this year.”
20 DECEMBER 2017, SAANA AIRPORT, YEMEN
3. Various shots, health supplies arriving at Saana airport
21 DECEMBER 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Tarik Jasarevic, Spokesperson, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Over the last two months we see the decrease in the number of new cases of suspected cholera, but the outbreak far from over. We have to continue providing health services to those who get infected. We have managed to save thousands of lives by establishing treatment centres, by providing supplies and by working with communities on prevention.”
20 DECEMBER 2017, SAANA AIRPORT, YEMEN
5. Various shots, health supplies arriving at Saana airport
21 DECEMBER 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Tarik Jasarevic, Spokesperson, World Health Organization (WHO):
"WHO will continue to support national health authorities together with other partners to try and alleviate the suffering of Yemenis, because cholera outbreak is just one of the aspects of wider crisis of health system in Yemen. As you have heard diphtheria made its way back the country, malnutrition is widespread and the health system is non-functioning. To that we have to add the deteriorating security situation which makes our operational work much more complicated. We reiterate our call for sustained access to the country so we can bring health supplies and health services to all Yemenis. We also call on all parties to stop attacking health workers and health facilities in Yemen.”
20 DCEMBER 2017, SAANA AIRPORT, YEMEN
7. Various shots, health supplies arriving at Saana airport
A World Health Organization (WHO) chartered aircraft carrying over 70 tons of essential medicines and surgical supplies landed in Sana’a Airport Wednesday (20 Dec), the largest planeload delivered by WHO to Yemen this year.
Speaking in Geneva today (21 Dec), WHO’s spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said “according to the latest epidemiological data we have, we are rapidly approaching one million suspected cholera cases in Yemen since April this year.”
He explained “over the last two months we see the decrease in the number of new cases of suspected cholera, but the outbreak far from over. We have to continue providing health services to those who get infected. We have managed to save thousands of lives by establishing treatment centres, by providing supplies and by working with communities on prevention.”
The shipment arrived on Wednesday contains trauma kits sufficient to meet the needs of 2000 patients requiring surgical care, as well as various types of rapid diagnostic tests and laboratory reagents to cover the urgent needs of central laboratories and blood banks.
Jasarevic reiterated that WHO will continue to support national health authorities together with other partners to “try and alleviate the suffering of Yemenis, because cholera outbreak is just one of the aspects of wider crisis of health system in Yemen.”
He added “diphtheria made its way back the country, malnutrition is widespread and the health system is non-functioning. To that we have to add the deteriorating security situation which makes our operational work much more complicated.”
Jasarevic reiterated the call for “sustained access to the country” to bring health supplies and health services to all Yemenis.
He also called on all parties to stop attacking health workers and health facilities in Yemen.
Despite restrictions, including the recent blockade, WHO continues to fill critical gaps in hospitals and health facilities across the country.
Earlier this week, two other planes delivered 26 tons of emergency inter-agency health kits. This year, WHO has provided nearly 1500 metric tons of essential medicines and medical supplies to 96 health facilities that are struggling to keep their doors open.
As the fighting intensifies and the need for trauma care increases, stocks of life-saving supplies to treat the injured are running dangerously low. Laboratories are also struggling to procure the reagents and rapid tests that are crucial to accurately diagnosing emerging infectious diseases. More than 30,000 Yemeni health workers have not received their salaries in over a year, and yet they continue to save lives every day.
According to the 2018 Humanitarian Needs Overview, 16.4 million people in 215 districts across Yemen lack adequate access to health care – 9.3 million of whom are in acute need. This presents a drastic increase of 79.3% since late 2014.
