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Cholera cases surpass 200,000 in war-torn Yemen: WHO

SANAA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Cholera infection has killed 1,400 people and infected 218,798 others in war-torn Yemen in just two months, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said on its official twitter account, describing it as the largest epidemic hitting a single Arab country.

The rapidly spreading cholera outbreak in Yemen has been "increasing at an average of 5,000 a day," said WHO director-general Dr Margaret Chan and UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) executive director Anthony Lake in a joint statement posted on WHO website.

"We are now facing the worst cholera outbreak in the world," they said.

Since April 27, the disease has spread to almost all of Yemeni provinces, mostly reported from the Houthi-held capital Sanaa and its suburbs, northern province of Hajah and Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, which are also under Houthi control, said WHO in its recent updated map of the spreading disease.

One quarter of the epidemic victims were children, the statement said.

"This deadly cholera outbreak is the direct consequence of two years of heavy conflict," it said, blaming the conflict for collapsing health, water and sanitation systems that have cut off 14.5 million people from regular access to clean water and sanitation and helping increasing the ability of the disease to spread.

They also said that rising rates of malnutrition in Yemen have weakened children's health and made them more vulnerable to the disease.

"An estimated 30,000 dedicated local health workers who play the largest role in ending this outbreak have not been paid their salaries for nearly 10 months," said the statement.

"We urge all authorities inside the country to pay these salaries and, above all, we call on all parties to end this devastating conflict," it added.

Yemen is facing total collapse as the war continues. Two thirds of the total population, around 19 million, need humanitarian and protection aid. About 10.3 million people are close to famine and 14.5 million lack access to safe drinking water.

Less than 45 percent of the country's hospitals are operational at the moment, but even the operational ones are coping with huge challenges, on top of which is the lack of medications, medical equipment and staffs.

The blockade on Yemen, part of a Saudi-led bombing campaign launched in March 2015, has deepened the crisis in the country which used to import most of its basic needs.

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