- Title: U.N. blames warring sides for Yemen's "man-made" cholera "catastrophe"
- Date: 22nd June 2017
- Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (JUNE 22, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.N. UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR, STEPHEN O'BRIEN, SAYING: "And so, be that the parties on the ground or their proxies, they all have to recognise that there's a shared responsibility for causing a man-made humanitarian catastrophe, which is where we are in Yemen at the moment."
- Embargoed: 6th July 2017 12:55
- Keywords: Yemen cholera United Nations Stephen O'Brien Nigel Timmins Saudi Arabia
- Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / SANAA, YEMEN
- City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / SANAA, YEMEN
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Government/Politics,United Nations
- Reuters ID: LVA0046MD1PHJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:U.N. humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien on Thursday (June 22) described the cholera outbreak in Yemen, which is fast approaching 300,000 cases, as a "man-made catastrophe" caused by the warring sides in the country's civil war and their international backers.
The number of suspected cases of the disease, which is caused by ingesting bacteria from water or food contaminated with faeces, reached 179,548 by 20 June, with 1,205 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
A Reuters analysis of WHO data showed the cholera caseload is growing at more than 4 percent a day, while the number of deaths is rising at just over 3.5 percent a day.
Nigel Timmins, humanitarian director at aid charity Oxfam, which has called for a "cholera ceasefire", told a U.N. meeting on Wednesday (June 21) that governments were stoking the war rather than prioritising the humanitarian crisis. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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