Medical charity records hundreds of measles cases in Houthi-controlled HajjahAL-MUKALLA: The international medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said that its medical teams in Yemen’s northern Hajjah province have recorded hundreds of measles cases, many critical, as the Iran-backed Houthis oppose the distribution of vaccines. In 2022, the same UN body recorded 22,000 measles cases, including 161 fatalities, as well as an increase in diphtheria and whooping cough cases. Yemeni health officials and international aid organizations attributed the epidemic of measles in northern provinces, primarily Hajjah, to anti-vaccine campaigns by the Houthis. Six civilians, including three children and a woman, were killed and six others, including two children, were injured in land mine blasts in Hodeidah, Taiz, Saada, Jouf and Al-Bayda. Masam, a Saudi-funded demining program, has defused more than 400,000 land mines and unexploded ordnance in Yemen since mid-2018, enabling hundreds of Yemenis to return to their homes, workplaces and schools.

Source: Libya Today June 24, 2023 09:28 UTC