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UN ships medicine to 1.2 million people in war-torn central Yemen

Xinhua, December 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

The UN health agency has delivered more than 100 tonnes of medicines and supplies for 1.2 million people in strife-torn Yemen's central Taiz governorate, where more than three million people, of whom, almost 400,000 were internally displaced, are in dire need of humanitarian aid, UN officials said here Monday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Yemen, Ahmed Shadoul, was quoted by the officials here as saying that the UN agency is calling on all parties to guarantee unrestricted, long-term delivery of humanitarian aid and unconditional movement of health workers.

The aid consists of urgently needed oxygen cylinders, medicines and medical devices, including surgical supplies and equipment for the treatment of trauma cases, and has been distributed to 13 hospitals and health centers, as well as replenishing the local health department's stocks for future needs.

"The health situation in Taiz has increasingly deteriorated. Shortages in health staff, medicines and fuel, as well as limited access by the humanitarian community due to the insecurity, have caused many health facilities in the governorate to shut down," Shadoul said.

The distribution of an additional 22 tonnes of medical aid to five health facilities in Sala, Al-Qahera and Al-Mudhaffar districts of Taiz City is on hold due to access difficulties.

WHO is negotiating with all parties to the conflict and advocating for unconditional access of medicines and supplies to these districts, where 400,000 people are in critical need of humanitarian aid.

"WHO is deeply concerned about the continuous lack of humanitarian access to Taiz City, depriving people from basic health care and violating their essential human rights," Shadoul said. "WHO re-emphasizes the crucial need for uninterrupted delivery of health services and calls upon all concerned parties to respect the basic rights of all Yemenis to access health care services."

Last week, the UN Security Council expressed "deep concern" over the number of violations of the ceasefire and urged all parties to observe it and exercise maximum restraint following the adjournment of peace talks.

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed adjourned the talks seeking to end the factional fighting, which has torn the country apart over the past year, until mid-January to allow for bi-lateral in-country and regional consultations to secure full adherence to the ceasefire.

The ongoing crisis in conflict-stricken Yemen is reflection of a regional unrest in the Middle East, especially after the forces of fleeing President Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi seized strategic southern city of Aden against Shiite Houthi fighters, reports said.

The Shiite Houthi group launched attacks on Aden city, which President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi declared as temporary capital after he fled weeks of house arrest by the Houthis in Sanaa.

On March 26, a Saudi-led coalition started airstrikes on Houthi targets in Sanaa and other cities, saying the multinational action was to protect Hadi's legitimacy and force the Houthis to retreat from cities it seized since September 2014. Endit