SANAA, Jan 4 (Saba) – The US-backed Saudi-led aggression coalition air strikes have killed and wounded over 33,701 Yemeni civilians since the start of the aggression war against Yemen in March 2015, the deputy minister of health said in a press conference here on Tuesday.

The deputy minister, Abdusalam Al-Madani said the death toll has reached 10,363, including 2,066 children and 1,574 women. The injured have reached 21,288 , including 3,025 children and 508 women, and the total disabled persons have reached 2,050.

He added that more than 415 health facilities were destroyed in the air strikes with a total financial losses of more than 8,342 billion Yemeni Riyals. While losses in the medical equipment have amounted up to 90,865 million dollar.

In addition, 2,236 people have died from cholera outbreak triggered by the Saudi war, while diphtheria cases have reached 439, with 44 deaths.

Citing recent reports by the World Food Programme, Al-Madani said that more than 21 million Yemenis needed humanitarian assistance, and that more than 9 million others were expected to enter the stage of starvation.

Some 2 million Yemeni children suffer from malnutrition, Al-Madani added.

Also, about 700,000 citizens are suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes, stress, asthma, epilepsy and mental illness, Al-Madani said, citing the national survey of chronic diseases conducted by the ministry.

More than six thousand Yemeni people have been suffering from renal failure, in which two to three persons died every week due to shortage of medicines.

The official also said that about 57 types of anti-cancer medicines ran out from the stores of the ministry.

The deputy minister said more than 95,000 Yemeni patients need to travel abroad for life-saving treatment, adding that the ongoing closure of Sanaa airport and all-out blockade imposed by the Saudi-led coalition leads to the death of 32 patients everyday.



Sameera H.-zak
Saba