The Lancet Global Health: Yemen needs a concrete plan — now
Editorial Board

“…[The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is] an opportunity to learn, in the hope that this situation can be reversed in Yemen, and prevented elsewhere. … In May 2018, The Lancet Global Health published a modeling study by Anton Camacho and colleagues in which surveillance data were used to identify the drivers of the cholera epidemic, linking rainfall to the second wave of the epidemic, generating potentially important information for timing and enhancing control efforts. … Also importantly, in a report released on December 4, the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health presents a detailed evaluation … of the epidemic preparedness and response up until the second wave in July 2018. … The 20 global and Yemen-specific recommendations cover the fundamental need of addressing insecurity, of urgently clarifying and harmonizing coordination and preparedness, and of making the response more agile by improving surveillance. They include specifics of a targeted WASH and vaccination response and rely on strong integration of planning across sectors, all sensible responses to the issues identified in the analysis. These concrete, action-related reports should be precious input in tackling this and future outbreaks, particularly in war-torn areas. But Yemen needs even more — and the time is now” (12/4).