UNICEF: Yemen’s Fuel Stocks, Vaccine Will Run Out in A Month

UNICEF Resident Representative in Yemen Meritxell Relano, speaking by phone to reporters in Geneva, sounded the alarm on Friday, adding that stocks of fuel would last until the end of November and stocks of vaccines would run out in just one month, presstv reported.

She further warned that fuel prices had gone up 60 percent and there were deep concerns about a diphtheria outbreak and food shortages because of the closure of the port of Hudaydah, which was used to import nearly 80 percent of Yemen’s food before the shutdown.

“The situation that was already catastrophic is just getting worse. The impact of this is unimaginable in terms of health and diseases,” Relano further added.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia announced the closure of all land, air and sea ports in Yemen. Riyadh’s move came after Yemeni forces, backed by Ansarullah fighters, launched a Borkan H2 long-range missile at King Khalid International Airport in Northeastern Riyadh late on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen since March 2015 to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed at least 15,000 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children.

Despite Riyadh’s claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

According to several reports, the Saudi-led air campaign against Yemen has driven the impoverished country towards humanitarian disaster, as Saudi Arabia’s deadly campaign prevented the patients from travelling abroad for treatment and blocked the entry of medicine into the war-torn country.

The cholera outbreak in Yemen which began in April, has also claimed over 2,200 lives and has infected 900,000, as the nation has been suffering from what the World Health Organization (WHO) describes as the “largest epidemic in the world” amid a non-stop bombing campaign led by Saudi Arabia. Also Riyadh’s deadly campaign prevented the patients from traveling abroad for treatment and blocked the entry of medicine into the war-torn country.

According to reports, the cholera epidemic in Yemen, which is the subject of a Saudi Arabian war and total embargo, is the largest recorded in modern history.

However, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of new cholera cases has fallen consistently during the past eight weeks. Nevertheless, it warned that progress against the viral disease could be reversed by the blockade.

“If the closure is not stopped in the coming days, we may see that the progress is stopped,” WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said a regular UN briefing in Geneva, adding that “We can see even more cases and more deaths as a result of not being able to get access to people.”

On Wednesday, a ship setting sail from Djibouti, with 250 tons of WHO medical supplies, was barred from anchoring in Hudaydah due to the persisting blockade.

“If the hostilities continue and the ports remain closed, we will not be able to perform life-saving surgeries or provide basic healthcare,” Chaib stressed.

Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said on Friday that despite reports of the re-opening of the port of Aden and a land border crossing in an eastern pro-Saudi territory, Saudi Arabia was still blocking desperately-needed UN aid deliveries to the war-torn country.

“Humanitarian movements into Yemen remain blocked,” said UNOCHA spokesman Russell Geekie.

“The reopening of the port in Aden is not enough. We need to see the blockade of all the ports lifted, especially Hudaydah, for both humanitarians and for commercial imports,” he added.