AL-MUKALLA: A measles outbreak in Yemen has killed 77 children and infected nearly 10,000 people since January, primarily in provinces of northern Yemen controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported in its monthly Humanitarian Updates that measles, diphtheria, and pertussis — whooping cough — have been on the rise in the country since 2019 and that 22,000 measles cases, including 161 deaths, were reported in 2022.
Over the past three months, 9,418 cases of measles, including 77 child fatalities, have been reported across the nation, and the number is expected to rise.
“In Yemen, 228 children have been paralyzed since 2021 by the ongoing polio outbreak. Eliminated in nearly all other parts of the world and on its way to global eradication, the poliovirus case count in Yemen is expected to rise,” the OCHA said.
Without naming the Houthis, the UN body stated that the Yemeni militia’s resistance to the distribution of vaccines or vaccination campaigns in areas under their control, as well as their anti-vaccination media campaign, is a major driving force behind the surge in measles, polio, and other diseases among Yemeni children.
“Since confirmation of the outbreak of type-2 vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2) in November 2021, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative has been unable to obtain house-to-house access to children in Yemen’s northern governorates,” the OCHA said.
It added: “As a result, the polio outbreak there has continued, and even spread to other countries in the region. Of Yemen’s 228 paralytic polio cases, 86 percent (197) are from the northern governorates.”
The Houthis spread content on social media, YouTube, television, and radio that questioned vaccination efficacy in safeguarding children’s health and urged parents not to vaccinate their children.
According to the UN, the Houthi media campaign also swayed residents in government-controlled southern Yemen, where parents rejected jabs, fuelling measles infections.
“While the material is produced and broadcast in the northern governorates, its effects are increasingly felt in the country’s southern governorates. Parental refusals in March 2023 house-to-house polio vaccination campaign were markedly higher than in other recent rounds.”
Similarly, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged Yemen’s warring sides to halt fighting and work toward a peaceful resolution to the conflict in order to alleviate the suffering of millions of Yemenis and enable the nation to recover.
“Millions of people in Yemen are suffering the disastrous effects of conflict. Only a peaceful resolution can bring an end to the suffering of Yemenis,” the UN secretary-general said on Twitter.
“Leaders must prioritize the needs of their people and give them a chance to recover & rebuild their lives & their country,” he said.
