The UAE is sending medicines and health-care equipment to Yemen in
collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) to help control
a cholera epidemic, currently spreading in the country.

Dr. Mohammed Al-Falahi, secretary-general of the Emirates Red
Crescent, said the UAE had already sent 100,000 liters of intravenous
fluids.
This is the entire quantity of intravenous fluid solutions that was
available in the UAE market and it was sent in addition to 150,000
packets of oral rehydration salts, the WAM news agency reported.
Al-Falahi said the UAE aid would cover all provinces of Yemen,
including those under the control of the Houthi militias.

“The UAE has responded quickly to the WHO requirements to contain the
outbreak of cholera since its onset in September last year. We have
also supplied chlorine for sterilizing the water. Our particular focus
has been on pregnant women and children, who are the worst victims of
the disease,” he explained.

Al-Falahi pointed out that over 300,000 people have benefited so far
from the UAE’s anti-cholera steps in Yemen. “This is in addition to
strengthening the relief air bridge aimed at dealing with the scarcity
of food.”

The UN envoy for Yemen said on Tuesday that the outbreak in the
war-ravaged country has killed over 500 people since the disease
re-emerged last month.

Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed said at a Security Council briefing that
there are 60 thousand suspected cases of cholera in its second
outbreak in Yemen in six months.

The envoy said that Yemen’s collapsing medical sector contributed to
the rapid outbreak, noting that less than 45 percent of medical
facilities are functioning and only half of Yemenis have access to
clean water.

The WHO said in its latest update on Monday that the disease continues
to spread but at a slower pace, putting the death toll at 471.
A Saudi-led coalition has been battling Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen
since March 2015, in a war that has killed more than 10,000 civilians.

Source: Arabnews-