WHO ends first day of cholera vaccination campaign in Yemen

GENEVA, Aug 5 (KUNA) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) announced completion of the first day of its cholera vaccination campaign in Al-Hudaydah city in Yemen late Saturday.
The campaign was launched after warnings issued by UN health bodies in Yemen regarding the deteriorating health conditions in the war-torn country.
The UN had called on clashing parties for ceasefire for three days from Saturday to Monday, to enable rescue workers to vaccinate citizens against the spreading disease, especially in Al-Hudaydah.
The campaign involves 3,000 medical workers and aims to vaccinate over 500,000 people, as the UN expressed fear of cholera turning into an epidemic in Yemen.
Meanwhile, statistics showed that there were over one million cases suspected of being infected with cholera between April 2017 and July 2018 in 96 percent of Yemen's governorates. At least 2,300 of these cases died in that time period.
The UN had called for fixing drinking water networks in the country to prevent cholera-causing bacteria from spreading. The disease can spread further especially in children suffering from malnutrition. (end) ta.ag