UNICEF delivers lifesaving supplies to Aden as Yemen runs out of medicine, equipment | WPN World People News

A UNICEF shipment of urgent medical supplies reached Yemen on 28 April and will benefit more than 500,000 people, mostly women and children, for the next three months.

UNICEF’s first airlift of urgent medical and other supplies being unloaded on the tarmac at Sana’a International Airport on 10 April, 2015.

The supplies which arrived by boat in Aden will replenish the rapidly depleting lifesaving supplies in hospitals and health centres in Aden, Al Dhale, Lahj, Abyan and Shabwa governorates which are among the worst hit areas.

“We urgently need medical supplies in Aden. Our hospitals are overloaded with patients and critical supplies are quickly running out,” said Dr. Omer Zain, head of Lahj Governorate Health Office, a coordinating partner with UNICEF on the humanitarian response.

The supplies include medicines to treat up to 7,000 children for acute watery diarrhoea and 50 midwifery kits that will support the safe delivery of 2,500 babies. Another consignment of critical supplies is expected to arrive by boat in Hodeida on 29 April.

Across the country, much needed basic services have been paralyzed as fuel, water and food resources are running out fast. Garbage is accumulating on the streets and sewage is overflowing. These appalling hygiene and sanitation conditions greatly increase the risk of diarrheal infections and the spread of diseases. Emergency health and water supplies from UNICEF will help to ward off such threats.

“More than ever, children now face a greater risk of death due to diseases such as acute watery diarrhoea and the general deterioration of living conditions”, said Julien Harneis, UNICEF Representative to Yemen. “There is an urgent need to bring in food and fuel supplies into the country. While humanitarian agencies can provide immediate relief, they can in no way meet the huge daily needs of the affected civilian population.”

UNICEF continues to support health centres and clinics across the country with essential medical supplies. Messages are being broadcast to alert children and parents on the dangers of unexploded ordnance, and water tankering services are providing safe drinking water to thousands who are displaced.

Source: United Nations Children's Fund