A lot of nations devastated and lacking humanitarian infrastructure have been dreading the arrival of coronavirus. After all, if developed nations with large health care systems are buckling under the pandemic, what hope do places like Yemen have.
Yemen is a big concern, as the nation is five years into a Saudi invasion, dependent on foreign aid for food, and healthcare system is so lacking that they’ve been hit with unprecedented cholera outbreaks. The first coronavirus case was confirmed Friday, in Ash Shihr.
Yemen is already not ready for that, and the particularly vulnerable north is about to get worse, with the World Food Programme (WFP) saying they need a halve the amount of aid sent to the north because of funding problems.
The WFP and other bodies are responsible for 80% of the food in the Houthi-controlled north of Yemen, and weakened by malnutrition and lacking medicine, the region is about to get hammered with more shortages, and as the virus starts to spread, they could be among the hardest hit regions for simple lack of readiness.
Except, the First World health care problem was self-inflicted through deliberate undercapacity.
Hallway medicine and overcrowded emergency rooms have been a fact of life for decades now, despite an aging population and clear need for more health care to meet rising need.
This isn’t just a spending problem; administrative waste further complicates health care.
As long as the USA can keep its sanctions going, help Saudi Arabia attack Yemen, refuse to join in international efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19, blame the WHO or China for the virus spread, who would care about funding for starving people anywhere?
War, famine disease and pestilence, I think they missed one. Still War just breaks down societies to let the other 3 do the most of the killing.