A woman sits beside her child who is infected by the cholera at the al-Sabeen hospital, in Sanaa, Yemen, May 28, 2017. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), most healthcare centers in Yemen were closed. The ones that remain open are short of staff and supplies due to import restrictions and unstable salary payments to health workers. (Xinhua/Mohammed Mohammed)
UNITED NATIONS, May 25 (Xinhua) -- With more than 100,000 people in Yemen believed to be exposed to the risk of cholera, a UN humanitarian official on Wednesday urged the international community to provide urgent financial and political support.
"Cholera continues to spread at an unprecedented rate throughout Yemen, affecting men, women, and children who have for more than two years withstood the consequences of a conflict that is collapsing institutions and social safety nets," said Jamie McGoldrick.
More than 35,500 suspected cases of cholera and 361 deaths were reported in the Middle East country in the past three weeks. Health authorities said that one third of the affected were children, linking the cause of cholera with malnutrition in a country where 17 million people face food insecurity.
"Hundreds of thousands of people are at a greater risk of dying as they face the 'triple threat' of conflict, starvation and cholera," McGoldrick said.
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), most healthcare centers in Yemen were closed. The ones that remain open are short of staff and supplies due to import restrictions and unstable salary payments to health workers.
The OCHA sought 55.4 million U.S. dollars for the next six months.
