Cholera Infects One Yemeni Child Every Minute

A cholera epidemic raging across Yemen is spiraling out of control, with around one child falling sick every minute, an aid agency warned on Wednesday.

Thousands of people could die in the coming months with up to 300,000 cases predicted, Save the Children said, adding that the infection rate had tripled in a fortnight, Reuters reported.

Two years of civil war, near-famine conditions and a lack of access to clean water have exacerbated the spread of cholera—a diarrheal disease that can kill within hours.

The country’s health system—already on its knees—is reeling with hospitals overwhelmed and quickly running out of medicines and intravenous fluids.

The UN children’s agency UNICEF said more than 920 people had died from the disease since late April and more than 124,000 cases had been recorded–almost half of them children.

Grant Pritchard, Save the Children’s representative in Yemen, called for an increase in emergency funding to tackle the epidemic.

“It’s time for the world to take action before thousands of Yemeni boys and girls perish from an entirely preventable disease,” he said in a statement.

“Disease, starvation and war are causing a perfect storm of disaster for Yemen’s people. The region’s poorest country is on the verge of total collapse and children are dying because they’re not able to access basic healthcare.”