550-ton anti-cholera aid sent to Yemen

The aid convoy is ready to leave for Yemen. (SPA)

RIYADH: Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, adviser to the Royal Court and head of the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Assistance (KSRelief), inaugurated on Tuesday a convoy aimed at combating and treating the cholera outbreak in Yemen.
The 550-ton convoy is carrying medicine and supplies needed to diagnose and treat Yemenis suffering from the disease.
Al-Rabeeah thanked King Salman for directing and guiding the center to urgently respond to the need to combat and contain the outbreak.
“The inauguration for this convoy today comes in execution of the directives of the wise leadership to fight the outbreak of cholera, and as such the center has formed a rapid-response team to put in place programs for rapid intervention, diagnosis, treatment and containment of cholera, as well as prevention,” he said, adding that coordination is ongoing with specialized agencies and local partners and organizations to provide medicines, antibiotics and other needs.
Al-Rabeeah said the 25-truck convoy contains 700,000 units of IVs and required devices, and 500,000 doses of antibiotics, which will help treat 59,000 people throughout Yemen.
The medicines will be distributed based on a plan that accounts for priority of cases, the spread of the disease and population density.
The center also has a plan for registration of cases on a database designed for this purpose, as well as a plan for diagnosis and treatment, he added.
The center’s partners include the Saudi Health Ministry, the Yemeni Ministry of Public Health and Housing, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) health ministries, the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Al-Rabeeah urged the UN and the international humanitarian aid community to support the Center's campaign, and to prevent attacks on aid shipments.