The World Health Organization announced that more than 400 children in Yemen have lost their lives due to measles this year, a figure that is double the deaths of the previous year. The organization mentioned in a recent report that more than 34,000 children have contracted measles during the same period.

The World Health Organization stated that it "is concerned about the increase in cases of measles and rubella among children."

It reported that the number of suspected cases of measles and rubella reached nearly 34,300 cases by the end of July, while 413 deaths were recorded, compared to 27,000 cases of infection and 220 deaths related to the disease last year.
The organization warned that there is limited information on the impact of the outbreak on pregnant women, who remain at great risk.

The World Health Organization emphasized in its report that the vaccination campaign aimed at responding to the outbreak should target all children under the age of ten at least, to be comprehensive and effective; however, it reiterated that the current funding gap has exacerbated the erosion of support and limited the target to children under five only.

 Arturo Bisesan, the World Health Organization representative in Yemen, stated that the increase in cases of measles and rubella among children this year occurs against a backdrop of economic deterioration, declining income, displacement, living conditions, and overcrowding in camps, alongside a strained healthcare system and decreased vaccination rates for a large number of children who cannot be reached through routine vaccination interventions.

 According to estimates of national vaccination coverage by the World Health Organization and UNICEF last year, 27% of children under one year old in Yemen are unvaccinated against measles and/or rubella and have not received the minimum set of vaccines for full protection.