Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
Yemen’s Minister of Public Health and Population, Dr. Qasem Buhaibeh, announced that medical authorities have detected 277 cases of polio across the country, including 38 cases in areas under the control of the internationally recognized government.
In statements to the German news agency (DPA), Buhaibeh said, “Most of the cases are in Houthi-controlled areas, while 38 cases have been recorded in government-controlled provinces.”
He pointed out that Al-Hudaydah province, located on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, has recorded the highest rate of the disease, with 45 cases detected there. He also noted that polio cases have been reported in 19 out of Yemen’s 22 provinces.
The minister warned that the Ministry of Health has taken several measures to curb the spread of the virus, including six vaccination campaigns conducted across liberated provinces.
Additionally, the Ministry of Health plans to implement two precautionary vaccination rounds, the first in May and the second in July, according to the minister.
Regarding the challenges facing the ministry in tackling the disease, the Yemeni minister stated that the Houthi group has halted human and environmental testing of polio samples for external analysis since mid-last year.
Buhaibeh added, “All our recorded cases are genetically linked to cases from Houthi-controlled areas.”
He accused the Houthi group of continuing to block comprehensive vaccination campaigns and restricting epidemiological surveillance measures, which increases the risk of the disease spreading.
