Yemen's Houthis Obstructing Aid, Exacerbating Cholera

Yemen’s Houthi militias are obstructing aid work and exacerbating a deadly cholera outbreak that is spreading across the country, Human Rights Watch said today. 

Houthis have obstructed aid and access to information and have failed to take adequate preventative measures to mitigate the spread of cholera. Houthi security forces also have detained and threatened civil society staff, including humanitarian aid workers, in their recent arrest campaign.

Data collected by aid agencies indicate that between January 1 and July 19 there have been about 95,000 suspected cholera cases, resulting in at least 258 deaths, according to an individual working with the Yemen Health Cluster, a group of aid organizations, authorities, and donors led by the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Currently, over 18 million of Yemen’s 30 million people need humanitarian assistance, and aid agency funding has been cut each year, at least in part due to the aid restrictions in Houthi-controlled areas. 

Yemen’s severely damaged healthcare infrastructure, the lack of safe drinking water, high malnutrition rates, and growing levels of vaccine denial and hesitancy from Houthi vaccine falsehoods, according to several sources, have facilitated the spread and impact of cholera in Yemen.