* Some 35,000 civilians trapped in besieged town of Saada * City lacks water, electricity and food supplies GENEVA, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Some 35,000 people trapped by fierce fighting in the besieged northern Yemeni town of Saada lack food, medical care, water and electricity, United Nations aid agencies said on Tuesday. Aid workers cannot enter the war zone and deliver vital humanitarian supplies to those in need, or count how many people have been hurt or killed, they said. Health clinics are closed and fuel is in short supply. "We need access to these people, they lack water and electricity. Living conditions are more and more precarious for the displaced and residents," said Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR has called for a ceasefire in the latest flare-up of fighting between Yemen's government and Shi-ite Muslim rebels, which has driven an estimated 100,000 people from their homes in the north of the Arab country. "According to those who managed to flee the besieged city and our staff on the ground, the fighting appears to be concentrated in the old Saada city. They also report frequent air strikes (in the area)," said the UNCHR's Andrej Mahecic. The government rejected a truce offer by Shi'ite al-Houthi rebels late on Monday, after accusing the Iranian media of stoking the conflict. [IDnL1563997] Aid agencies are now trying to arrange a "humanitarian corridor" to get supplies into Saada through Saudi Arabia. Malaria, measles and diarrhoeal diseases pose a serious threat to uprooted people without access to medical services, and areas of northwestern Hajjah province are showing high levels of malaria, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said. "We're also very concerned about the inability to get a clear picture of the numbers of people who are wounded and suffering inside the conflict zone," WHO spokesman Paul Garwood told reporters. Outside the conflict zone, the U.N. health agency is giving out medical supplies and malaria bednets to those who managed to escape the fighting that intensified over the past month. The U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) said that it could only deliver food to some 10,000 displaced people in August -- compared to 95,000 in July. The WFP has been forced to temporarily relocate its staff from Saada due to the fighting, but has authorised the aid group Islamic Relief to distribute food in the town when security improves, according to WFP spokeswoman Emilia Casella. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Louise Ireland)
A medical technician segregates species of mosquitoes inside the entomology department at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Alabang city, south of Manila September 1, 2009. The rapid growth ...
