Hospitals On The Brink As Cholera Kills 184 In Yemen’s Capital In Mere Days

When Ahmed Algohbary’s little brother Hamzah woke up on Saturday in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, with severe diarrhea and unbearable abdominal pain, he knew the 9-year-old didn’t just catch a stomach bug. Algohbary rushed his sibling to the Sabeen hospital, a facility in the war-torn country backed by the international relief organization Save The Children. Soon his fear was confirmed. Hamzah was diagnosed with cholera, and so were many of the other patients in the overcrowded emergency ward. With every hospital bed taken, Algohbary took his brother in his lap, holding the IV tube while on the floor.   At least 184 Yemenis have died of cholera just this weekend in the capital, which Houthi rebels have controlled for the past three years. On Sunday, the city declared a state of emergency and called for international help to deal with the crisis. Yemen’s health ministry, run by Houthi rebels, said on its news agency Saba that the outbreak was “unprecedented” and had become impossible “to contain.” There have also been cases of the disease have been reported in other major cities including Hodeidah, Taiz and Aden. “There are hundreds of patients here,” Ahmad Algobary told Huffpost over the phone while describing the scenes at the hospital. “A lot of patients came from villages, from Sanaa city and around Sanaa. It is horrible situation. I can’t even walk through the hospital hallway.” The cholera ou...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news