Saudi Arabia

Yemen: 'Contaminated' Medicine Kills At Least 10 Children

OCT 14 2022·Updated OCT 17 2022

Story

Image credit: Reuters [via Al Jazeera]

The Facts

On Friday, officials announced that at least 10 children with leukemia died after being treated with contaminated medication in Yemen’s Houthi rebel-held capital Sanaa. They were aged between 3 and 15.
Khaleej Times
The children were among a group of 19 — with nine reportedly now in critical condition — who received the treatment at the Kuwait Hospital.
Vanguard News
The Houthi rebels' health ministry says the injections were contaminated with bacteria and smuggled into the country, while an unidentified source alleged the medication had expired. According to anonymous health officials, another chemotherapy drug, methotrexate, was recently smuggled in from India, administered to 50 children, and killed 19.
Al Jazeera
Several doctors in Sanaa say Houthi officials secretly partner with medicine smugglers who often sell expired drugs to private clinics from warehouses across the country.
The Week UK
Meanwhile, the Houthi health ministry — which has reportedly opened an investigation — pointed the finger at the Saudi coalition, citing a lack of accessible medicine in Houthi-controlled areas as the reason behind the deaths.
Al Jazeera
This comes as a nationwide truce expired and wasn't extended in October, bringing threats of renewed fighting. Since the civil war between the Saudi-led coalition and the Iran-backed Houthis began in 2014, more than 150k people have been killed in what is now considered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
Al Jazeera

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The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

While Saudi Arabia has given billions of dollars in aid to Yemen, the Iranian government has spent all its money on manufacturing weapons and prolonging this humanitarian crisis. Until the Houthi rebels choose human life over military growth, this conflict will only continue to block countless children from obtaining life-saving food and medical supplies.

FOX News

Establishment-critical narrative

It's the Yemeni government and its powerful Gulf allies who have obstructed peace in Yemen and continue to punish its citizens for standing up for themselves. The Saudi coalition is behind countless war crimes against children, and its part in robbing Yemenis of essential necessities shouldn't be overlooked.

Al Mayadeen English

Cynical narrative

The war in Yemen, now in its eighth year, is every bit as brutal as what's taking place in Ukraine, and both sides have violated the agreed ceasefire on numerous occasions. The West's failure to address this humanitarian disaster in government and the media with any sort of urgency says a lot about the world's inherent bias and who it considers worthy and unworthy victims.