An estimated 20.5 million people are without safe water and sanitation, and 19.9 million without adequate healthcare. As a result, Yemen has been grappling with mass outbreaks of preventable diseases, such as cholera, diphtheria, measles, and Dengue Fever.

As COVID-19-related deaths spike in Yemen, the country’s national health system—already pushed to the brink of collapse by years of devastating conflict—is struggling to respond to the pandemic. There is no money to pay health staff, and personal protective equipment and COVID-19 tests are hard to come by. To make matters worse, misinformation about the virus is fueling fear and stigma, causing many sick people to avoid seeking medical care until it’s too late, compounding already high mortality rates.

NEW YORK, 10 December 2020 –These are the remarks of UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's High-Level Event: Averting famine in Yemen: What can we do now and in 2021. "Yemen is teetering on the edge of complete...