WHO reports 8,034 suspected cholera cases in Yemen this year as Taiz runs short of food and fuel

The Secretary-General's spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, told reporters on Tuesday that conditions in Yemen's southwestern city of Taiz are worsening. He said hostilities on several front lines are causing large-scale displacement and growing shortages of supplies. UN News, the UN's own news service, called the humanitarian crisis in Taiz “devastating”.

Mr Dujarric said the UN and its humanitarian partners have reached nearly 148,000 men, women and children with emergency assistance since the start of August. The briefing record does not say how that number was counted.

According to UN News, Taiz is Yemen's third largest city. It has been a battleground between the Iran-backed Houthis and the internationally recognised, Saudi-backed Yemeni government since the war began in 2014. UN News reports that the Houthis have besieged the city since 2015 and tightened the blockade when they took control of the last main road between Taiz and other government-held areas. It says this is part of a wider Houthi offensive launched in early September along Yemen's south-western Red Sea coast.

Humanitarian partners told the UN that wheat and flour supplies in Taiz could run out in less than three weeks. Petrol prices have tripled and cooking gas is largely unavailable. Food prices have reportedly risen about 50 per cent. Fuel shortages are also putting water supply and health services at risk, the UN said.

The WHO warned on Tuesday that suspected cholera cases in Yemen have surged. UN News reports that the country has recorded 8,034 suspected cases and 27 deaths this year, and that a quarter of the cases occurred in the last four weeks. UN News says 200,000 people have been displaced since August, and that the WHO notes this coincides with a sharp rise in cholera transmission. The UN describes overcrowded displacement sites, inadequate access to clean water and minimal health services.

Children also face measles. UN News reports more than 22,800 suspected cases and 128 deaths this year. It gives estimated vaccination coverage of 45 per cent for each of the two recommended doses, which it calls critically low.

The WHO found that approximately 500 health facilities across nine affected governorates lack partner support. UN News says the agency is working with the Yemeni government on surveillance, testing and treatment. Its 90-day emergency response needs $31 million and has received $4.3 million, less than 14 per cent of the total. WHO official Dr Annette Heinzelmann said: “Without urgent funding and unimpeded access to safe water, vaccination and essential health services, outbreaks could spread rapidly among already vulnerable communities”.

Mr Dujarric called on the parties to exercise restraint and to avoid further escalation. He urged them to “uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law and to refrain from direct attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure”. He repeated that there is no military solution and said the Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, continues his work. Asked whether the envoy speaks to the Houthis, he said the envoy has regular interaction with Houthi interlocutors. The Secretary-General's office again asked the parties to allow safe, rapid and unhindered distribution of humanitarian aid.

The sources do not report any action by the Security Council on Yemen. They do not say who counted the displaced or the suspected cases, and they give no figure for how many people live in Taiz. The cholera, displacement and funding figures come from UN News, which reports the UN's own statements. The Chinese-language UN News item carried only a summary, in which the WHO said conflict and mass displacement raise the risk of disease outbreaks.