Abstract Introduction
The war in Yemen is one of the world's most devastating humanitarian disasters. This has left the country's health infrastructure reduced to less than 50% and access to healthcare services is limited or non-existent. The destruction of sewerage and sanitation systems have provided the perfect conditions for waterborne diseases to spread. Cholera has affected more than 1,000,00 people and left over 3,000 dead. The UN has predicted that after two large waves of disease there is a possibility of a third.The projectThe Yemen Mobile Health Project aims to contribute to the prevention of diarrhoeal disease by disseminating health messages via WhatsApp broadcast lists to communities in Yemen. Messages with images give key information about reducing the risk of catching diarrhoeal disease(s), preventing further spread, and steps to alleviate symptoms. A pilot is underway with 60-100 Yemeni diaspora in the UK. This will evaluate the process of sending messages and obtaining feedback in addition to assessing whether the messages and images are understood and culturally appropriate.
Results
Results of the UK pilot are expected in summer 2019 and will inform the practical aspects of communicating health advice, process of sharing feedback, clarity of the messages, and appropriateness of potential actions. This will inform a second phase involving up to 500 people in Yemen later this year.
Conclusions
The project will enable war displaced Yemeni population with limited resources, to obtain culturally appropriate health messages that can be implemented to avert further waves of cholera and other gastrointestinal outbreaks. External funding details