Editorials

The Irish Times view on the crisis in Yemen: Acutely vulnerable

Only half of the country’s medical facilities are functioning, it has only three testing centres and virtually no stocks of personal protective equipment

A nurse and a trainer are pictured during a training session for operating ventilators, recently provided by the World Health Organisation, for the intensive care ward of a hospital allocated for coronavirus patients in preparation for any possible spread of the disease, in Sanaa, Yemen. Photograph: Khaled Abdullah/ Reuters

Thu Apr 16 2020 - 22:45

It has rightly been described as the world's worst humanitarian disaster. A war targeting civilians and hospitals, widespread hunger, disease and poverty, a crippled health service, and with medical and food supplies blockaded, make Yemen the perfect incubator for Covid-19.

“After five years of war, people across the country have some of the lowest levels of immunity and highest levels of acute vulnerability in the world,” warns the UN’s humanitarian co-ordinator in Yemen, Lise Grande, where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Iran-backed Houthi rebels who control some 40 per cent of the country.

Last Friday Yemen reported its first case. Yet only 51 per cent of Yemen's medical facilities are functioning, it has only three testing centres with the capacity to carry out a "few hundred tests", and virtually no stocks of personal protective equipment. Lack of testing means the virus may well have spread more widely – there have been at least 4,934 cases and 65 deaths in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, and 4,521 cases and 25 deaths in the UAE, whose forces have been fighting in Yemen.

Of 30.5 million Yemenis, 24 million are in need of some kind of humanitarian assistance, and 14 million are on the brink of famine. Save the Children estimated last year that at least 75,000 children under five have starved to death since the onset of the war. Nearly 3.6 million have been displaced. Meanwhile, the country has been ravaged by the worst cholera epidemic on record, with 1.2 million infected and at least 2,500 deaths.

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The World Food Programme (WFP) feeds more than 12 million people a month, 80 per cent of them in areas controlled by the Houthis. But last week the WFP announced that it will halve the aid it gives to people in parts of Yemen controlled by the Houthis. Donors complain the rebels are hindering aid deliveries.

There was one glimmer of hope. The Saudis last week announced a two-week ceasefire to confront the pandemic. But so far the Houthis have not reciprocated, and attacks continue. They are demanding that the blockade of ports be lifted to allow in desperately needed supplies.

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