4 November, 2026 - Over the past four weeks, the Hajjah governorate, Yemen, has seen the number of acute watery diarrhoea cases double. More than 2,900 cases have been reported across the governorate since July. Unlike the previous year, children under nine years old are the most affected. \u200b
Doctors without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), in collaboration with governorate health authorities, is addressing the growing need for acute watery diarrhoea treatment in both Abs and Hajjah districts. However, with continued rain resulting in increased cases, there is an urgent need for other humanitarian organisations to act - to ensure access to life-saving treatment and community outreach and to scale up water, sanitation and hygiene services.
Communities in the Hajjah governorate have experienced repeated outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea since late 2016. \u200b
In Abs, as in previous years, MSF teams initially established an acute watery diarrhoea isolation centre at Abs general hospital at the end of July. As the number of cases increased, MSF subsequently set up a dedicated 25-bed diarrhoea treatment centre (DTC). As case numbers increased further, capacity was increased to 50 beds. From mid-July to mid-October, 1,408 cases were admitted and treated, among them 42 pregnant women. \u200b
In addition to receiving patients from Az Zuhrah district in neighbouring Hodeidah governorate, MSF is supporting three oral rehydration points (ORPs) across the Abs district, two of which are located in camps for internally displaced people, to deliver initial treatment for less severe cases and health promotion activities. \u200b \u200b
In Hajjah, MSF started to support the existing acute watery diarrhoea unit at Al \u200b Ghamhouri hospital on 12 October, expanding its capacity to 37 beds. Within the first 10 days, the unit admitted 171 cases of acute watery diarrhoea, of which 30 per cent were children under 5 years old. Of the one in six patients who presented with severe dehydration, most were pregnant, elderly or suffering from chronic disease.
“No one should lose their life to a disease that can be treated if care is reached in time,” says Abdul Aziz, MSF’s medical coordinator in Yemen. “Acute watery diarrhoea can cause severe dehydration within hours, making early treatment critical. To prevent avoidable deaths, treatment must be available close enough to home.”
In Yemen, years of conflict have damaged essential infrastructure, weakened basic services and placed additional strain on an already fragile healthcare system. Severe cuts in humanitarian funding and the withdrawal of humanitarian organisations have further reduced access to essential services like healthcare and water and sanitation. Affected communities, the majority of whom are displaced and living under the poverty line, are left with fewer sources of support, facing heightened risk of disease outbreaks and adverse health outcomes.
Donors must mobilise immediate and sustained funding to address critical gaps in care and essential services. Every delay puts more lives at risk.
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