Daunting challenges to immunization efforts are disproportionately affecting the youngest children
It’s not just polio. Against the backdrop of ongoing conflict, widespread malnutrition and shortages of food and medicine, one of Yemen’s fastest growing problems, is, ironically, easily solvable: multiple outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
The numbers are daunting. Yemen recorded more than 22,000 measles cases in 2022, including 161 deaths. In 2023 to date, cases have already spiked to 9,418, with 77 children dead. Diphtheria and pertussis – whooping cough – cases are also on the rise, as are deaths from each disease.