More than 300,000 people are now infected with cholera in Yemen, a burgeoning health crisis adding to the war, famine and state collapse currently facing the country.

The UN’s aid coordination agency confirmed this week there are now 313,000 cases and 1,706 deaths across Yemen’s 22 provinces since the outbreak began in March.

The International Red Cross’s director for the region, Robert Mardini, said that around 7,000 new cases a day were being diagnosed as the disease threatens to completely overwhelm Yemen’s barely functioning medical infrastructure.

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While at the request of Yemen’s internationally recognised government last month the UN has prepared up to one million doses of cholera vaccines to help stem the spread of the disease, on Tuesday officials in Geneva said that the precarious security situation and logistical difficulties meant that shipments may be delayed or even shelved completely.

While easily preventable with proper sanitation procedures, after more than two years of war the country’s health, water and sanitation systems are on the verge of breaking down, making the food and water-borne epidemic very difficult to contain.

Vaccines, too, are not easy to rollout, since they require refrigeration and follow up injections.

A total of 500,000 doses are currently waiting in Djibouti to be shipped to the conflict-riven country may need to be rerouted to some African countries instead where they can be better utilised, World Health Organisation spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday.

The situation in Yemen Show all 14 1 /14 The situation in Yemen The situation in Yemen Houthi supporters trample on a US flag during a gathering mobilizing more fighters into several Yemeni battlefronts, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen People carry the coffins of men, who were killed in the recent Saudi-led airstrikes during their funeral, in the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen AP The situation in Yemen Pro-government fighters give food to Yemeni children on the road leading to the southwestern port city of Mokha. Yemeni rebels are putting up fierce resistance in a key Red Sea port city where they are encircled by pro-government force Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni stands in front of a graffiti protesting US military operations in war-affected Yemen, in Sana'a, Yemen. According to reports, US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen A Yemeni female fighter supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, takes part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen Yemeni female fighters supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, take part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A boy shouts slogans next to pro-Houthi fighters, who have been injured during recent fighting, during a rally held to honour those injured or maimed while fighting in Houthi ranks in Sanaa, Yemen Reuters The situation in Yemen Balls of fire and smoke rise from a Houthi-held military camp following alleged Saudi-led airstrikes, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy looks on as Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy sits amidst the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa AFP/Getty The situation in Yemen Marine One with US President Donald Trump flies with a decoy and support helicopters to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, for the dignified transfer of Navy Seal Chief Petty Officer William 'Ryan' Owens who was killed in Yemen Getty Images The situation in Yemen US President Donald Trump aboard the Marine One to greet the remains of a US military commando killed during a raid on the al Qaeda militant group in southern Yemen on Sunday, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, US Reuters

Jamie McGoldrick, the Yemen chief for the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the plan to ship vaccines was designed as a “preventive intervention,” but in some cases, the impact would be “less than optimal” by the time the vaccines would arrive.

Speaking by phone to reporters, Mr McGoldrick said the trend line of cases in areas that have gotten help fighting cholera has been “stable, or (has) shown signs of decline. However, there are many areas in the country where the trend line is moving up, and those areas are, as you would imagine, the most remote” – or behind conflict lines.

Although the daily growth rate in the overall number of cases has halved to just over 2 per cent in recent weeks and the spread of the disease has slowed in the worst-hit regions, outbreaks in other areas have grown rapidly.

The most intense impact has been in areas in the west of the country which have seen recent fierce fighting.

Any shipments still need approval from Yemen’s exiled government, which is currently enlisting the help of a Saudi Arabia-led coalition to fight Shia Houthi rebels which are in control of the capital Sanaa.

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Less than half of Yemen’s medical centres are still functional. A total of 14.5 million people don’t have regular access to clean water and 7.3 million are living on the brink of famine.

Saudi Arabia has effectively closed down Yemen’s air and seaports preventing the import of food and medicine, and an intense Saudi-led bombing campaign – which has in some cases targeted civilian buildings such as hospitals and funeral gatherings – has killed at least 10,000 people.

The UN estimates $2.1bn (£1.6bn) is needed to stop Yemen completely collapsing into a failed state, but donor governments only pledged half that amount at an aid conference in Geneva in April.