Yemenis denounce Houthi ban of vaccines‏‏

Yemen's health and government circles are outraged that places under the authority of the Houthi militia have not received vaccinations، especially after the militia commanders claimed that vaccination was part of a "international conspiracy" to attack the populace.

The Yemeni medical community was concerned that the coup's opposition to vaccine initiatives would result in severe epidemics، particularly among kids.

The authorities criticised the "reckless" conduct and warned that the militias' falsehoods endangered the future of the kids.

Despite the global acceptance of evidence-based medicine، the Health Ministry of Yemen's legitimate government cautioned that such falsehoods posed a threat to the future of Yemen's children in areas controlled by the militias.

The Ministry stated that it must promote correct and accurate health information، asserting that preventive work، namely vaccines، was the best way to confront diseases and epidemics.

It pointed out that many diseases، such as smallpox، were eradicated because of the vaccines، which led to a polio-free Yemen in 2009. However، the disease reemerged in 2019 in Saada due to the militias' behavior.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Children's Fund (UNICEF) representatives sent a joint letter to the Ministry of Health in September 2020، expressing concerns over the “vaccine-derived polio outbreaks in Yemen are consequences of increasingly low levels of immunity among children.”

The organizations explained that the cases in Yemen were clustered in Saadah، an area with very low routine immunization levels and inaccessible to the polio program for more than two years.

The government noted that the international concerns came after the emergence of many polio cases in the governorate.

These issues were discussed by the Health Ministry with a number of regional، Arab، and international partners. Since the situation threatens millions of children in Yemen and the surrounding nations، serious action was required to put pressure on the coup militia to control it.

It reaffirmed its appeal to the local and global community to take action to stop the spread of this destructive culture that is hostile to science and health.

A Houthi organisation that collaborates with UN organisations and works in Houthi militia-controlled regions recently conducted a protest against vaccines.

It asserted that Jewish ideas about finance، trade، and aggressive people-targeting were behind modern medicine، which included chemical treatments and vaccines.

They also claimed that vaccines had no scientific basis and that enhancing immunity and maintaining health was done by following the instructions of the group's leader، Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.

The Houthi militia had previously announced an increase in the number of cases and deaths in the areas under its control due to epidemics.

The medical community warned of a broader outbreak in light of the Houthis' negligence and corruption.

Members of the Houthi parliament attacked the militia leaders in charge of the health sector، accusing them of being complacent.

They claimed the health officials did not carry out their duties in monitoring the spread of these epidemics and providing the so-called precautionary measures and vaccinations according to the approved immunization programs.