Acute malnutrition increases among Yemeni children due to coalition siege

SANAA, April 03 (YPA) – The Sanaa-based Ministry of Health declared on Thursday growing rates of food insecurity and acute malnutrition among Yemeni children as a result of the ongoing aggression and siege by the coalition on Yemen for ten years.

Recent statistics issued by the ministry revealed that the number of Yemeni children suffering from moderate and severe acute malnutrition increased to 10,033,318 between 2017 and 2024.

The statistics indicated that about 180,650 children under the age of five suffer from severe acute malnutrition with complications, and 45 percent of them under the same age also suffer from stunting.

According to the statistics, several pregnant and breastfeeding women affected by moderate acute malnutrition during the same period reached 5,997,092, and more than 1,800,000 others suffer from malnutrition, in addition to one million women suffer from anemia.

The ministry’s spokesperson, Dr. Anis Al-Asbahi, explained in a statement that the aggression and its economic blockade have significantly contributed to the rise in malnutrition rates in the country. Furthermore, the difficulty of financing the import of essential goods at the official exchange rate exacerbates food insecurity.

Al-Asbahi pointed out that the repercussions of the aggression and blockade included a decline in aggregate demand, a deepening economic downturn, increased unemployment and poverty, and difficulty accessing basic social services such as education, health, and water, in addition to 1.5 million poor people be deprived cash assistance from the Social Welfare Fund.

He reported that 1.25 million government employees, who support 6.9 million people, 48.2 percent of whom are children, have been affected by the interruption of salaries, leading to malnutrition.

The spokesman noted that the burden of high disease rates in some areas is linked to the spread of epidemics such as suspected cholera.

AA