U.N. blames warring sides for Yemen's "man-made" cholera "catastrophe"

Record ID: 896639

  • Title: U.N. blames warring sides for Yemen's "man-made" cholera "catastrophe"
  • Date: 22nd June 2017
  • Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (JUNE 22, 2017) (REUTERS) UNITED NATIONS BUILDING UNITED NATIONS FLAG FLYING VARIOUS OF U.N. UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR, STEPHEN O'BRIEN AND U.N. HUMANITARIAN ADVISOR ON SYRIA AND HEAD OF NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL, JAN EGELAND, ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.N. UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR, STEPHEN O'BRIEN, SAYING: "This is because of conflict, it's man-made, it's very severe, the numbers are absolutely staggering, it's getting worse, and the cholera element in addition to all the lack of food, the lack of medical supplies for people is of course primarily, one has to put that at the door of all the parties to the conflict."
  • 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: LVA0026MD1PHJ
  • 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
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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