Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Yemen: 98 Percent of Cholera Patients Cured | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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A nurse attends to a boy infected with cholera at a hospital in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, Yemen. (Reuters)


London – Yemen’s Minister of Public Health and Population Dr. Nasir Baoum said that no matter how much cholera is treated, the disease cannot disappear completely given the poor sanitary conditions in the country.

A statistical medical report shared between world health organizations showed however that around 98 percent of infected and suspicious cases were cured.

Yemeni officials accused Houthi and Saleh militias of manipulating the number of cholera deaths in Yemen.

According to a Saudi official, a meeting was held in Riyadh and witnessed Yemeni officials’ complaint over the exploitation of the disease through including deaths of natural causes with deaths from cholera.

Baoum confirmed such reports, saying that the necessary measures have been taken to monitor the patients, adding that reports issued by Houthis should not be trusted.

“Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was the first to show interest in this issue and he pleaded with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to intervene and these efforts in combating the disease were fruitful,” said Baoum told Asharq Al-Awsat.

King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid (KSRelief) spokesman Dr. Samer al- Jutaili told Asharq Al-Awsat that according to the World Health Organization (WHO) the cholera death rate is 0.8 percent.

He added: “We adopted the intervention plan put by the WHO to fight cholera and contain it.”