Thomson Reuters Foundation: Yemen: where worst nightmares have become a reality
Najat Elhamri, head of the Middle East and Eastern Europe region at Islamic Relief Worldwide

“…[F]ears are now rising that we could be on the brink of a fresh cholera epidemic [in Yemen.] … [Last month, the] conditions [in Hodeidah, Sanaa, and Aden] were so poor that there was no isolation center to treat cholera cases and sometimes more than five people were sharing two beds between themselves. Those with infectious diseases such as cholera were not being properly isolated, and conditions were almost begging the germs to jump from body to body, ravaging those already frail from malnutrition and other diseases that are not being properly treated due to a chronic lack of medicine and medical supplies. Premature babies were particularly at risk, in incubators with no ventilation and no adequate medical care. … Islamic Relief is doing what it can to help, providing food to over two million people every month and supporting health clinics and hospitals and running feeding centers to help severely malnourished mothers and babies. But it is no mean feat. Aid workers themselves are falling prey to this conflict. … Access for aid agencies must urgently improve. But what’s really needed in Yemen is a lasting peaceful solution. … All parties to the conflict must put people first and stop this brutal war, before it is too late” (3/26).