Aden, Dec 24, 2024, IANS

Aden, Dec 24 (IANS) The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that Yemen bears the highest burden of cholera globally. In a statement, the WHO reported on Monday that as of December 1, Yemen had recorded 249,900 suspected cholera cases and 861 associated deaths in 2024 alone, representing 35 per cent of the global cholera burden and 18 per cent of reported global fatalities from the disease. The latest figures reveal a significant year-on-year surge, with the number of cases and deaths reported in November 2024 increasing by 37 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively, compared to the same period in 2023, the WHO said. "The outbreak of waterborne diseases like cholera and acute watery diarrhea imposes an additional burden on an already stressed health system facing multiple disease outbreaks," WHO representative and head of mission in Yemen, Arturo Pesigan, was quoted as saying. Pesigan emphasised that the lack of safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, and poor access to timely medical treatment are exacerbating the crisis. According to the WHO persistent cholera transmission has plagued Yemen for years, with the country experiencing the largest recorded cholera outbreak in recent history from 2017 to 2020, Xinhua news agency reported. Despite ongoing efforts, the deteriorating humanitarian situation, coupled with limited access to healthcare services, continues to fuel the resurgence of the disease in the war-ravaged Arab country that has remained embroiled in a protracted conflict since late 2014. Cholera is a bacterial infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, that causes severe diarrhoea and can be fatal if left untreated.