I haven't found any current cholera reports from WHO or Yemen itself today. WHO EMRO seems to have adopted a weekly update, so we might get something on August 13. The health ministry's updates have paused at August 8. In the interim, an article in The Guardian: Yemen: aid offers ‘only hope of survival’ in cholera epidemic, says Priti Patel.
Humanitarian aid is “the only hope Yemeni people have to survive”, said the UK development minister, Priti Patel. She warned Yemen is “on the brink of catastrophic disaster” unless the international community follows Britain’s lead to stem the cholera epidemic.
Heavy rains, stagnant water and overflowing rubbish bins have stoked a second wave of the outbreak, which has so far swept across 90% of the country, infecting almost half a million people and killing 1,900 since it began in 2015.
An estimated 70% of Yemen’s 28 million population is believed to be in desperate need of humanitarian aid, yet funding and medicine shortfalls have left people extremely vulnerable to disease and famine in the war-torn country.
“Yemen is on the brink of a catastrophic disaster if the world continues to close its eyes to the urgent help three-quarters of people across the country desperately need,” said Patel, who has prioritised £8m for cholera from the budget this year for Yemen.
“UK aid is providing lifesaving food for 1.7 million people, as well as clean water, emergency healthcare and sanitation to contain the cholera outbreak and prevent it from spreading further.
“The international community must follow Britain’s lead and join our efforts and step up support to avert famine and cholera engulfing the country.”
In April, the Department for International Development (DfID) increased UK aid to Yemen to £139m for 2017-18 and has focused funds on life-saving aid, including food and nutrition support, and clean water and sanitation.
Yemen’s crisis has been deemed “the worst cholera outbreak in the world” by the World Health Organisation, with one in every 62 Yemenis believed to have been infected with the disease.
