DISEASE FEARS GROW IN BESIEGED TAIZ AS HEALTH OFFICIALS WARN FALLING CASE COUNTS MAY HIDE WORSENING CRISIS
Health officials in Yemen’s besieged city of Taiz are warning that falling recorded infection numbers may conceal a worsening disease crisis because thousands of residents can no longer reach hospitals and clinics. The latest four-week reporting period recorded 5,642 cases, including 5,228 cases of acute watery diarrhea, 232 suspected dengue cases and 182 suspected cholera cases, but officials say the real number could be far higher. Yemen’s internationally recognized government accuses the Houthis of tightening the siege and restricting food, water, medicine and fuel, while the Houthis deny responsibility and blame government forces for road closures. The United Nations says road closures and insecurity are preventing critical supplies from reaching the city, while Human Rights Watch has warned that deliberately depriving civilians of essentials could amount to the war crime of starvation if the legal threshold is met.