Aid group sees ‘drastic’ cholera increase in war-torn Yemen

SANAA, Yemen – Doctors Without Borders says it has recorded a “drastic increase” in cholera cases in war-torn Yemen.

The international medical charity, known by its French acronym MSF, says its teams have seen at least 780 patients since late March.

A Saudi-led coalition has been battling Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen since March 2015, in a war that has killed more than 10,000 civilians.

The World Health Organization said last month that fewer than 45 per cent of health facilities in Yemen are now fully functioning, and that the flow of “essential medicines” has fallen by nearly 70 per cent.

The U.N. says some 18.8 million people need humanitarian or protection assistance in Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country.