yemen is at risk of the worst famine the
world has seen in decades
according to the united nations the u.n
warns that 16 million people will go
hungry this year
including some 400 000 children who will
suffer from
what it calls severe acute malnutrition
and could die without urgent treatment
yemen was already the arab world's
poorest country
before its civil war escalated in 2015.
houthi rebels backed by iran control
most of the population there
the yemeni government which is helped by
a saudi-led coalition
which is backed by the uk has been
carrying out a bombing campaign in
support
of the internationally recognized
government our international
correspondent oligarians report from
southern yemen does contain
some distressing scenes from the start
every breath is a struggle
and he is dangerously thin
muhammad amar is 12 months old
but too weak to hold his head up
he's in the grip of severe acute
malnutrition
muhammad needs to go to hospital
urgently
his mother hariyah knows but can do
nothing
but
this rural clinic couldn't provide
transport for muhammad
we were able to give mother and baby a
lift to the hospital
an hour away this was a chance encounter
in taiz province an area ravaged by
hunger in one of the world's poorest
countries
malnutrition was entrenched in yemen
before the war
but has increased every year since
at halifa hospital doctors do what they
can
they say muhammad's weight is about half
what it should be
and he has a chest infection he's put on
oxygen
a lifeline for now we can help the the
case watch
reach to our hospital but there is a lot
of baby cannot reach to our hospital
so this is the problem are you afraid
that there are
children dying at home yes there is a
lot of cases dying home
due to a lot of factors or a lot of
causes
those causes are complex but don't
include
lack of food in the markets there's
plenty to buy
but many can't afford it six years of
conflict have taken their toll
food prices have risen about a hundred
and forty percent
the yemeni currency has collapsed along
with the economy
and the youngest here are
heartbreakingly vulnerable
her name is radha waleed she came
because of acute gastroenteritis she's
four months old
tiny gada is deteriorating rapidly
in the southern city of aden for her
mother
iptada displaced by the war seeing her
like this
rigid with pain is another trauma
gada has severe acute malnutrition and
is running a high
fever dr maha suleiman tries to cool
down her tiny body
with a cold cloth
some of garda's test results come back
it's not good news
when i found the really sick children
and they
keep on coming deteriorated or not
responding to treatment it's
very hard even we have some of the sleep
disturbance really for me i have a sleep
disturbance some nights
and it's very hot and painful
and we have even no time to change the
the the sheet of the bed just to change
the sheet and other patient
is just coming well doctors are now
extremely concerned about gada they say
her case is
critical she needs an x-ray but it's too
far away
across the hospital they can't take the
chance of moving her now
she's on oxygen at the moment and
they're just trying to stabilize her
as the specter of famine hangs over
yemen
those in need are getting less food aid
because of cuts in international
donations
the un says yemenis are not starving
they are being starved since we filmed
these pictures
gada has died orla giron bbc news
southern yemen
the terrible plight of so many young
children there in yemen that was
oligarian reporting