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OCHA: Famine may be happening "right now" within Yemen
20.11.2017 08:02 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
Famine may be happening «right now» within Yemen as a blockade on aid and other essential goods by a Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels there continues, UN Radio says referring to Jens Laerke, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) representative, report.
As to the report, now Yemen imports up to 90% of its daily needs, including fuel, which has now reached crisis levels.
In meanwhile, the Red Cross says reserves are in such short supply that three Yemeni cities have been unable to pump clean water to residents within recent days, what has left one million people at risk of a renewed cholera outbreak.
Other diseases are also a threat, including diphtheria, a serious infection of the nose and throat, that’s easily prevented with a vaccine.
As to the the World Health Organization (WHO) report, diphtheria is «spreading fast» and has already claimed 14 lives, and so a vaccination campaign against this disease is planned within nine days.
In addition to water and sewage problems in Hodeida, Saada and Taiz, the Red Cross warns that the capital Sanaa and other cities «will find themselves within the same situation» within two weeks unless imports of essential goods resume immediately.
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