Preventable illnesses menace children in Yemen
The war in Yemen is showing no signs of ending, and as this most violent period of its modern history drags on, young children are as much at risk to disease as to militant violence.
SANAA, Yemen — Yemen's children are paying the price of the civil war that began there in September 2014. They are dying daily from preventable conditions like diarrhea. In times of war, children lose their schools, houses and healthy food, and suffer from diseases caused by malnutrition and for which they are unvaccinated.
On Dec. 3, UNICEF revealed the emergence of measles cases among Yemeni children. The disease, which had disappeared years ago in Yemen, had resurfaced. UNICEF's spokesman in Yemen Ahmad al-Asaadi told Al-Monitor, "Children have been diagnosed with measles in Saada, al-Mahra, Umran and Hadramout governorates.” He added, “There are 37 confirmed diagnoses of measles and 268 suspected cases, in addition to three deaths in Saada, al-Mahra and Hadramout as a result of the condition.”
