Concerns over the spread of malaria during the rainy season are mounting in Yemen, where the healthcare system is already struggling after years of conflict, leaving millions of people facing growing difficulties accessing medical care and basic medicine.
As the rainy season arrives, mosquitoes that transmit the disease move more quickly, forcing doctors to race against time to provide care in an overwhelmed healthcare system.
"I was brought from a distant area to the hospital, where the doctors provided me with the necessary care, and thank God, my condition has improved. Some medicines are available at the hospital, but others are not, so we have to buy them from outside pharmacies. The prices of these medicines are high for us, and we cannot afford them easily because of the difficult living conditions," said Ahmed Al-Haddad, a malaria patient.
Yemen is witnessing an alarming rise in malaria cases. According to the World Health Organization, about 24 million Yemenis -- nearly 64 percent of the population -- live in areas at high risk of malaria transmission.
"At Al-Jomhouri Hospital's emergency department, we receive many fever cases every day. Since the beginning of this year, we have been receiving many malaria cases. Malaria is transmitted through mosquitoes, which carry the disease from an infected person to a healthy person. Therefore, prevention depends on avoiding mosquito bites. The danger of malaria is that it can lead to several serious complications, including cerebral malaria. It can also cause an enlarged spleen and several other problems in the body," said Osama Al-Manbari, a doctor at the emergency department of Al-Jomhouri Hospital.
Malaria outbreak worsens in Yemen as rainy season arrives
Malaria outbreak worsens in Yemen as rainy season arrives
Malaria outbreak worsens in Yemen as rainy season arrives
China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the statement made by Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi 10 years after the so-called "2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea", a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in Beijing on Sunday.
The statement blatantly endorses the illegal "award", attacks China's lawful claims and mischaracterizes Japan as a "legitimate stakeholder who uses the South China Sea", said the spokesperson.
Japan is not a party in the South China Sea and is in no position to pass judgment on China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea. During World War II, Japan committed innumerable crimes that caused untold suffering on China and its people, including the illegal occupation of islands and reefs in the South China Sea, said the spokesperson.
Now decades later, Japan, in the name of a "stakeholder", is again attempting to meddle in the South China Sea. This reminds people of Japan's history of aggression and expansion, and heightens their vigilance against Japan's neo-militarism agenda, said the spokesperson.
China's sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and relevant rights and interests in the South China Sea were established in the long course of history, and are solidly grounded in the law. China's activities in the South China Sea are fully legitimate, lawful and beyond reproach. China's rights in the South China Sea can by no means be denied by the makeshift "arbitral tribunal", said the spokesperson.
In rendering the "award", the "arbitral tribunal" exceeded its authority and abused its jurisdiction. The "award" is naturally illegal, null and void, and has no binding force. It has gravely undermined the sanctity and authority of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and dealt a serious blow to the international rule of law, said the spokesperson.
China neither accepts nor recognizes the "award", and opposes and will never accept any claim or action arising from it, the spokesperson added.
By turning a blind eye to the glaring flaws in the "award" while openly endorsing it, Japan has laid bare its double standards and hypocrisy, said the spokesperson.
What Japan really cares about is not the international rule of law, but meddling in and destabilizing the South China Sea. For some time, Japan has been stepping up collaboration with the Philippines and expanding its export of weapons and equipment to the country. Japan has also deployed military forces overseas on many occasions and launched offensive missiles. These actions go far beyond the scope of self-defense, break free from Japan's Constitution and norms in the international law, and challenge the post-war international order, said the spokesperson.
China urges Japan to stop smearing China, stop sowing disinformation in the South China Sea, and stop undermining peace and stability in the region, said the spokesperson, adding that China will continue firmly defending its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea.
Any attempts to challenge China's lawful rights and interests and undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea are doomed to fail, the spokesperson said.
China strongly deplores Japanese FM's statement on South China Sea: spokesperson
