Health Crises Continue to Threaten Yemen as Civil War Drags On

A displaced Yemeni girl in Hodeidah sits as food supplies are handed out (AFP)

By: Nathan Masko

Bellefonte — The Arab Spring left its mark on countries all over the Middle East, Yemen is no exception. Protests that arose over the corruption of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been in power since 1990, were met with violent retaliation from security forces. While Saleh stepped down in 2012, protests and unrest devolved into total civil war. Ansar Allah, better known as the Houthis rebels, a group made mostly of Shi’a Muslims from the north of Yemen seized the capital, Sana’a, in September 2014. This conflict has since escalated into a proxy war between the American-supported Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Iran, who backs the Houthi rebels. 

The country has seen over a hundred thousand violent deaths recorded by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, with 12,000 of those deaths being civilians. The majority of these deaths have been inflicted at the hands of the Saudi-led coalition. The conflict has enabled a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, as disease and starvation threaten to take just as many, if not more, lives.

Yemen has been home to one of the worst outbreaks of Cholera in the world, according to Doctors Without Borders. The disease has been able to spread rapidly due to a lack of clean water sources and a broken sanitary infrastructure, all symptoms of the conflict. While this outbreak saw its peak in 2017, new cases continue to pour in from around the country. The total number of new cases between January 2018 and December 2019 reached over a million, according to figures from the World Health Organization show.

Cholera, however, is not the only disease affecting the Yemeni people. Diseases such as Dengue Fever and Malaria have had thousands of reported cases across the country as the destruction of infrastructure and flooding have become breeding grounds for mosquitos. Malaria maintains an endemic status, and dengue fever had stricken around 30,000 people by mid-November of last year.

The Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels have both been accused of countless violations of international law during the conflict. Human Rights Watch states in their 2020 report that the Saudi blockade is preventing fuel from entering the country — fuel that powers hospitals and allows water pumps to give civilians access to clean water. The Houthis are also restricting the flow of goods and aid around the country, especially into Sana’a.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stresses how bleak the situation continues to look. Food insecurity in the country is at an all-time high, with more than two-thirds of the country of over 28 million people being in a state of “pre-famine”, and almost a quarter of a million people barely surviving. Issues such as skyrocketing food prices and almost half of the country’s medical facilities being declared “non-functional” are exacerbating this crisis.

A lack of accountability from all sides of the conflict are perpetuating the disasters and health concerns that threaten the people of Yemen. As regional and world actors fight for control, millions of people in Yemen will continue to fight for survival.

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