Jon Gorr/iStock/Thinkstock(SANA’A, Yemen) — The situation in Yemen, where Houthi rebels have taken control of swaths of land, is growing worse, World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said in a statement Thursday.
Just over two months into the conflict, the WHO is reporting nearly 2,000 people killed and 8,000 injured. Those figures, Chan notes, include hundreds of women and children.
With almost 8.6 million people “in urgent need of medical help,” Chan says the WHO sent about 48 tons of medicine into Yemen during a five-day cease-fire earlier this month. That medicine, she noted, served about 400,000 people.
“As the conflict continues, more lives are lost every day,” Chan said. “Not just due to the violence, but as a health system that has been seriously damaged barely copes with the extraordinary needs posed by the unrelenting violent conflict and can no loner provide them with the health services they need to stay alive.”
“The health and lives of millions of people are at risk,” she urged.
“This unnecessary loss of innocent lives cannot go on,” concluded Chan. “All parties must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians, health facilities and health staff during conflict and to permit the supply of vital humanitarian aid…to areas where it is needed most.”
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