Yemen is still facing one of the world’s largest cholera outbreaks—over 270,000 suspected cases and nearly 900 deaths in the past year, resulting in an overall case fatality ratio (CFR) of 0.33 per cent, according to Dr Hanan Balkhy, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean.
Speaking at the emergency press briefing held Tuesday in Cairo, Balkhy said “Cuts to overseas development aid have critically undermined WHO ability to deliver essential health services in the Eastern Mediterranean, affecting millions.”
Balkhy stated that the Eastern Mediterranean Region accounts for over half of WHO’s global emergency funding needs, but in 2025, WHO has received just seven per cent of the funds required to respond to emergencies across the Eastern Mediterranean.
Balkhy warned that health facilities in parts of the region risk closure or severe disruption, leaving refugees and displaced people without emergency care, medicines, mental health support, or trauma services.
She also warned that disease outbreak detection and control are also severely compromised, with surveillance disrupted and laboratory capacities diminished, heightening the risk of uncontrolled epidemics.