85,000 children may have died of hunger in Yemen

An estimated 85,000 children under age 5 may have died of hunger and disease since the outbreak of Yemen’s civil war in 2015, an international aid group says.

Save the Children bases its figures on mortality rates for untreated cases of Severe Acute Malnutrition in young children. The UN says more than 1.3 million children have suffered from SAM since a Saudi-led coalition went to war with Yemen’s Houthi rebels in March 2015.

The group says its “conservative estimate” was that 84,701 children may have died, based on historical studies that find that 20 to 30 percent of untreated cases lead to death. It says it calculated the figure based on the number of cases reported in areas where aid groups were unable to intervene.

“For every child killed by bombs and bullets, dozens are starving to death and it’s entirely preventable,” says Tamer Kirolos, Save the Children’s Yemen director. “Children who die in this way suffer immensely as their vital organ functions slow down and eventually stop.”

The war has given rise to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Three-quarters of Yemen’s people require life-saving assistance and more than 8 million are at risk of starvation. Tens of thousands of people are believed to have been killed in the fighting.

— AP