- Title: Yemeni woman hospitalised for acute malnutrition
- Date: 25th October 2016
- Summary: HODEIDAH, YEMEN (OCTOBER 24, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SAIDA AHMAD BAGHILI LAYING ON BED IN HOSPITAL AUNT OF BAGHILI SITTING ON BED AND WAVING FLIES AWAY FROM HER HODEIDAH, YEMEN (OCTOBER 25, 2016) (REUTERS) SAIDA AHMAD BAGHILI SITTING IN A WHEELCHAIR WITH HER AUNT CROUCHING NEXT TO HER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SAIDA ALI BAGHILI, AUNT OF SAIDA AHMAD BAGHILI, SAYING: "She was fine. She was in good health. There was nothing wrong with her. And then she got sick. She has been sick for five years. She can't eat. She says her throat hurts. She lives off juice and milk and tea and water. That's her diet. She deteriorated about a year ago. And then a couple months after that she got diarrhoea and she became bed-ridden. She couldn't move. Her father couldn't send her anywhere (for treatment) but some charitable people helped out." SAIDA AHMAD BAGHILI WEARING GREEN HOSPITAL HAT FEET OF SAIDA AHMAD BAGHILI IN BED HOSPITAL NURSE LIFTING TOP OF BEAKER NURSE GIVING SAIDA AHMAD BAGHILI DRINK (SOUNDBITE) (ARABIC) NURSE AT AL-THAWRA HOSPITAL, ASMA AL BHAIJI, SAYING: "Saida is 18-years-old. She came to us on October 22. Of course she is suffering from malnutrition. We ran tests on her. We did an ultrasound, we tested her for TB (Tuberculosis) and she was clear of everything. The problem is malnutrition due to (her) financial situation and the current (war) situation at this time. It seems she is suffering from acute malnutrition." SAIDA AHMAD BAGHILI LYING IN BED WEARING GREEN HOSPITAL HAT AND PINK TOP
- Embargoed: 9th November 2016 18:50
- Keywords: Yemen acute malnutrition health Hodeidah thin girl thin woman
- Location: HODEIDAH, YEMEN
- City: HODEIDAH, YEMEN
- Country: Yemen
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA00155I8LDZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:An emaciated 18-year-old woman was taken to Al Thawra hospital in Hodeidah on the West coast of Yemen on Saturday (October 22), suffering from acute malnutrition, a nurse at the hospital said on Tuesday (October 25).
Baghili is from the small village of Shajn, about 100 km (60 miles) southwest of the city of Hodaida, and used to work with sheep before developing signs of malnutrition five years ago, according to her aunt, Saida Ali Baghili.
The young Baghili is now bed-ridden and unable to eat, surviving on a diet of juice, milk and tea, her aunt added.
"She was in good health. There was nothing wrong with her. And then she got sick. She has been sick for five years. She can't eat. She says her throat hurts," she said.
"She deteriorated about a year ago. And then a couple months after that she got diarrhoea and she became bed-ridden. She couldn't move. Her father couldn't send her anywhere (for treatment) but some charitable people helped out," she added without elaborating who the donors were.
A nurse at the hospital blamed the family's finances and conflict in Yemen for her condition.
"We ran tests on her. We did an ultrasound, we tested her for TB (Tuberculosis) and she was clear of everything," said nurse Asma Al Bhaiji.
"The problem is malnutrition due to (her) financial situation and the current (war) situation at this time. It seems she is suffering from acute malnutrition," she added.
The 18-year-old is one of more than 14 million people, over half of Yemen's population, who are short of food, with much of the country on the brink of famine, according to the United Nations.
Her picture is a reminder of the humanitarian crisis in the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country where at least 10,000 people have been killed in fighting between Saudi-led Arab coalition and the Iran-allied Houthi movement.
A Saudi-led Arab coalition has been fighting Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen since March 2015 to try to restore to power the internationally backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who went into exile.
Parts of the country have been cut off by months of fighting and are in dire humanitarian need.
Warplanes from the coalition attacked targets in Sanaa at dawn on Sunday (October 24), hours after a three-day truce in Yemen's war expired, residents in the capital said.
The ceasefire, agreed to allow for an increased flow of humanitarian aid, ended without renewal after a day of heavy fighting between the Saudi-led Arab coalition and the Iran-allied Houthi movement.
Each side accused the other of repeatedly violating the truce and U.N. attempts to extend it before it lapsed appeared to have failed.
On Tuesday, the World Food Programme warned that food insecurity and child malnutrition are growing in Yemen.
A senior WFP team that recently toured Yemen, including isolated areas in the North East of the country, reported that ''hunger is increasing by the day and people have exhausted all their survival strategies.'' - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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