Yemen: Over 80 newborns die every day due to Saudi-led aggression

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Over 80 Yemeni newborns die on a daily basis due to the Saudi-led aggression and blockade against Yemen, as per Najeeb Al-Qubati, the undersecretary of Yemen's Ministry of Public Health.

At a local event, Al-Qubati added that 39 percent of newborns are born prematurely-- a huge increase from before the war began. Elsewhere in his remarks, he stressed that the excessive use of forbidden weapons by the Saudi-led aggression is the main cause behind the growing cases of premature newborns.

The top Yemeni official added that medical centers require approximately 2,000 incubators, noting that 632 incubators have already been provided. It is worth noting that the Saudi-led coalition has employed internationally prohibited weaponry to target residential areas since the beginning of the Saudi-led war in March 2015, including US-made cluster bombs, as per Cluster Munition Monitor.

The Executive Mine Action Center in Sanaa recently confirmed the death and injury of 324 civilians since the truce took effect on April 2, 2022, as a result of mines, cluster bombs, and other remnants left behind by the Saudi-led coalition. 

Saudi Arabia's embargo has caused an uptick in diseases

Saudi Arabia has enforced an embargo on Yemen, which has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians. Much of the country's infrastructure has also been destroyed or placed under heavy strain, most notably the health sector.

Al-Mansour stated that mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever have been on the rise since the war began.

Malaria and dengue fever killed more than 260,000 Yemenis between 2015 and 2019, he said, citing the blockade as one of the major causes of delays in the arrival of medical supplies.

The World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) has lately said, in a report obtained by Al Mayadeen, that the naval blockade imposed on Yemen by a Saudi-led coalition has significantly contributed to the starvation of Yemeni civilians and can be considered torture.

The organization highlighted that the United Nations recorded 131,000 deaths due to a lack of food, health services, and clean water in December 2020, adding that the World Food Program estimated in July this year that nearly one Yemeni out of every three - 19 million people - were food insecure, with 3.5 million acutely malnourished.

The war on Yemen and the Saudi-led coalition's blockade of the poverty-stricken country is the main driving force behind the hunger crisis - the situation is likely to worsen with the most recent war in Ukraine, which is the source of 30% of Yemen's wheat imports.