The UK is providing a major new UK aid package to help screen, prevent and tackle malnutrition in Yemen, Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt announced.
The UN estimates that 17.8 million people do not have reliable access to food across Yemen, including 1.8 million children who are acutely malnourished.
UK aid package will screen 2.2 million children under the age of five for malnutrition and provide urgent treatment for 70,000 of the most vulnerable children.
UK aid will also:
- provide treatment to 3.2 million children suffering from childhood illnesses such as pneumonia, measles and chickenpox;
- enable 818,000 people to access water and sanitation which will help to prevent diseases from spreading, and help to prevent anaemia in 500,000 children by supporting iron and folic acid supplementation (nearly 90% of under-fives in Yemen are anaemic);
- scale up mobile health teams to provide care to the most vulnerable that might otherwise be unable to access health services.
“The UK is extremely concerned at the deepening humanitarian crisis in Yemen, including recent reports of the growing risk of famine to millions of Yemenis who do not know where their next meal is coming from. Children are suffering the most and are 12 times more likely to die from diseases. Today’s UK aid package will help identify cases of malnourishment earlier and provide life-saving care for those most in need,” Minister Burt said.
UK aid is also supporting the World Food Programme (WFP) to support over 800,000 Yemenis with food vouchers for one month.
The UK has been at the forefront of the humanitarian response to the Yemeni crisis. It has consistently been one of the largest donors to the crisis and has helped secure vital access for food, fuel and medicine.
Original source: DFID
Published on 16 October 2018
