600,000 cholera cases expected in Yemen by end 2017

GENEVA - 27 July 2017: Experts of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) expect the current number of suspected cholera cases to double by the end of 2017 to over 600,000, ICRC President Peter Maurer said.

He added in a statement that the great tragedy was that this cholera outbreak is a preventable, man-made humanitarian catastrophe. It was a direct consequence of a conflict that devastated civilian infrastructure and brought the whole health system to its knees.

Further deaths can be prevented, but warring parties must ease restrictions and allow the import of medicines, food and essential supplies and they must show restraint in the way they conduct warfare, he assured.

Maurer said that the fate of Yemen could be different but there are no indicators giving hope as the suffering of Yemeni people is getting worse.