In the past decade, Yemeni children have borne the brunt of the destruction, violence and hunger caused by Houthi militants.
The World Food Programme reports that nearly half of Yemen’s children under age 5 — some 2.2 million kids — suffer from acute malnutrition. Less well known, but equally devastating, is that Houthi militants have directly targeted children with medical disinformation, blocking essential health practices and putting young lives at risk.
Houthi militants continue to block lifesaving polio vaccination campaigns, labelling them an ‘international conspiracy.’ The Houthis’ claim is, of course, wrong.
Modern medicine saves lives. In fact, variolation — the precursor to modern vaccines — came to Europe from the Ottoman Empire, which included portions of modern-day Yemen.
The Houthi attack on vaccines wilfully ignores the Muslim world’s proud history of science and medicine. This disinformation is deadly.
Last year, Houthi health authorities held an event denouncing vaccines — and all modern medicine — as a Jewish conspiracy with no scientific basis. They claimed that Yemenis could only get immunity from disease and maintain their health by following the instructions of the group’s leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
The consequences of this disinformation are dramatic. Vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is spreading in Houthi-controlled areas, with 178 children affected since 2022.
In June, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported three new VDPV cases in the Houthi-controlled north, bringing the 2024 total number of cases to 10. Polio can damage a child’s nervous system, brain, and spinal cord and can lead to weakness or permanent paralysis.
“Children are particularly vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases such as polio, measles, pertussis and diphtheria,” said Dr. Arturo Pesigan, WHO’s Head of Mission in Yemen.
“One in four Yemeni children has not received all the recommended vaccinations on the national routine immunization schedule, and 17% are zero-dose children, who have not had a single dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine.” Yemen and Somalia are the only two countries in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region where VDPV continues to spread, despite the fact that polio has been all but eradicated globally — down by 99% since 1988.
Disinformation and poor government can destroy lives. Yemeni children deserve the same chance at a healthy life as children worldwide. The Houthis must stop spreading false information and work to ensure access to lifesaving vaccines.
