Suspected cholera cases reach one million in Yemen

"Yemen suspected cholera cases has reached the threshold of one million, amplifying the suffering of the country caught up in a brutal war," the ICRC said on its Yemen Twitter account.

The WHO warned last month that some 2,200 people have already died from the waterborne disease, which has propagated rapidly due to deteriorating hygiene and sanitation conditions.

"The disease should not be so ferocious. Preventing cholera is pretty simple in theory: wash your hands with clean water, drink clean water, and eat food that has been boiled or cooked," said Johannes Bruwer from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"But clean water in Yemen is a luxury. Municipal workers in Sanaa have not been paid in months. And so we have no electricity, rubbish piling high in the street, and a crippled water system," he told the BBC.

Yemen is in the midst of a bloody war between pro-government forces and Houthi rebels who control the capital.

Healthcare workers are struggling to cope, with the country's system decimated by two years relentless war, the organisation said. Today, only 45 percent of hospitals are operational, while only 30 percent of the country's needed medicines and medical supplies are getting in.

Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies intervened in the conflict on the side of the government in 2015 with airstrikes and a far-reaching blockade on its neighbour's air and sea ports.

In early November, the coalition tightened that blockade in response to a missile fired by the Houthis that was intercepted near Riyadh airport.

At the time, the UN aid chief warned the move would exacerbate an already dire humanitarian situation.

The blockade was partially lifted three weeks later under massive international pressure, namely over the closure of Hodeidah port, key to humanitarian and commercial deliveries.

The Houthis conducted another failed missile strike against Riyadh on Tuesday to mark the 1,000th day since the Saudi-led intervention.

The coalition said in a statement on Wednesday that it would not resort to closing Hodeidah in the wake of the attack.

More than 10,000 people have been killed since Saudi Arabia and its allies joined the government's fight against the rebels, triggering what the UN has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.