Yemen: an expired drug kills several children in Houthi-controlled Sana'a

At least 10 children with leukaemia have died and dozens more have become seriously ill after receiving expired doses of cancer treatment in Yemen's capital, Sana'a, which has been controlled by Houthi rebels since 2014.

The children, aged between 3 and 15, died at the city's Kuwait Hospital after being injected with the faulty doses at several private clinics, the Houthi-run Health Ministry said. About 50 children received a smuggled chemotherapy treatment known as methotrexate made in India, health officials told the Associated Press. According to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, a total of 19 children died from the expired drug. 

Other doctors in Sana'a also said that Houthi officials are "secretly" working with associations of drug smugglers who then sell expired drugs to private clinics.

Family members told AP that some of the children experienced pain and cramps after receiving the drug. They eventually died several days later. "The worst thing was that the hospital administration tried to hide the truth from us," said the father of one of the victims.

The mother of another child told AFP that her son was given sedatives to ease the pain caused by the expired treatment but his condition only worsened and he lost consciousness. 

The Houthis, meanwhile, blame the lack of medicine on the Saudi-led coalition. The rebel-run Ministry of Health said that "bacterial contamination" had been detected in the injections and that an investigation into the incident would be opened.

However, this is not the first time such an incident has occurred in territories controlled by the Iranian-friendly militia. The Houthis have been accused of looting and stealing humanitarian aid coming into the country. David Beasley, director of the World Food Programme (WFP), a UN agency, has complained that only 40% of donations reach the citizens of Houthi-controlled Sana'a. 

The rebels not only plunder food aid or economic funds, they also steal the aid that arrives for cancer patients, as the internationally recognised Yemeni government has denounced on several occasions.

In this sense, Lisa Daftari, a Middle East analyst, highlights on Fox News the "hypocrisy" of Iran, a country that supports the Houthis militarily and economically. Recently, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told the UN General Assembly that his government stood for "justice" and fought "injustice in all its forms". However, as Daftari denounces, "the regime in Tehran is focused on increasing its nuclear programme with no regard for human rights or providing adequate medical treatment". 

Yemen's current critical health situation is one of the many consequences of the armed conflict that began in 2014. The war has plunged the country into the world's worst humanitarian crisis and has killed more than 150,000 people.

At the beginning of October, the truce reached by the parties involved last April came to an end. The possibility of not extending the truce raises fears of renewed violent fighting. However, the UN still hopes to reach an agreement to resume the ceasefire. This was acknowledged by the UN envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, who stressed that "there is still a chance" that the sides will reach a common point.