600,000 Yemenis with cholera by year's-end: Red Cross

By Fatih Erel

GENEVA (AA) - The number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen is expected to at least double by year’s-end to over 600,000, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Sunday.

"The country’s unprecedented cholera outbreak ravages an alarming -- and growing -- percentage of the population," the Red Cross said in a statement.

According to the UN’s World Health Organization, 368,207 suspected cholera cases and 1,828 deaths have been reported in Yemen from April 27 to July 19.

"The ICRC experts expect the current number of suspected cholera cases to at least double by the end of 2017 to over 600,000 -- or one in every 45 Yemenis," it said.

"The great tragedy is that this cholera outbreak is a preventable, man-made humanitarian catastrophe. It is a direct consequence of a conflict that has devastated civilian infrastructure and brought the whole health system to its knees," said ICRC President Peter Maurer.

Maurer arrived in Yemen on Sunday for a five-day trip that will take him to Aden, Taiz and Sana’a, where he will discuss the humanitarian situation with communities and officials on all sides of the conflict.

According to the ICRC, over 3 million people have fled their homes since the onset of the Yemen conflict, and more than 20 million throughout the country are in need of humanitarian assistance.