Yemen | News

WHO in Yemen

News

Print PDF

05 March 2024

More than 1.29 million children in Yemen protected from polio after door-to-door immunization campaign

5 March 2024, Aden, Yemen – In just 4 days, a polio immunization campaign in Yemen has reached more than 1.29 million children aged under 5 years. Overall, the campaign achieved 101% coverage, with a range of 89% to over 100%. Yemen’s Ministry of Public Health and Population collaborated with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to deliver this successful campaign. “This is an important step to protect children from deadly childhood diseases. With confirmed cases of polio among Yemeni children, an imminent threat persists....

25 February 2024

Polio immunization campaign to protect 1.3 million children in 12 governorates of Yemen

25 February 2024, Aden, Yemen – Around 1.3 million children aged under 5 years will be protected against polio in a vaccination campaign launched today with the support of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The Ministry of Public Health and Population aims to reach every child and UNICEF and WHO are assisting by providing the vaccine through cold chain storage and providing funding for training and deployment of vaccinators for the campaign targeting 12 governorates in Yemen. This vaccination...

22 February 2024

Polio outbreak in Yemen: situation update

21 February 2024, Aden, Yemen – Conflict could have the worst impact on vulnerable children, who are victims of circumstances beyond their control or capabilities. Almost a decade of conflict has led Yemen to experience devastating outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, which disproportionately affect children. Key contributing factors include extremely limited public health infrastructure and services, limited water availability, and growing levels of vaccine denial and hesitancy. “Children are particularly vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases such as polio, measles, pertussis and diphtheria,” said Dr Arturo Pesigan, WHO Representative and Head of Mission in...

11 February 2024

Yemen’s children grasp life amid the crisis

11 February 2024 – In war-ravaged Yemen, children’s lives are overshadowed by poverty, malnutrition, and diseases, robbing them of a carefree childhood. An estimated 5 million children in the country are acutely malnourished. Behind this number are the individual stories of children facing malnutrition, families struggling to afford treatment, and journeys made to seek help. Families in Yemen not only struggle to keep their children safe from war but also from death from hunger and disease as a result of poverty made worse by the ongoing crisis. At the same time,...

29 January 2024

WHO Yemen concludes KSrelief-funded project to provide life-saving services, through the installation of 5 oxygen stations

29 January 2024, Aden, Yemen – WHO and Yemen’s Ministry of Public Health and Population have successfully implemented a project entitled “Provide Life-saving Services in Selected Hospitals in Yemen through the Installation of 5 Oxygen Stations”. The project was made possible thanks to generous funding from King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief). From March 2022 to October 2023, the project installed 5 oxygen stations in strategic locations in Abyan, Al Maharah, Hadhramaut, Marib and Shabwah governorates. This collaborative effort between WHO and KSrelief reflects a shared commitment to strengthen...

29 January 2024

Empowering lives: impactful oxygen station on-the-job training

29 January 2024  – With funding received from King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), WHO has set up 5 life-saving oxygen stations in hospitals across 5 key governorates in Yemen. This impactful project has involved a series of crucial activities, including provision of electric generators, construction of structure for oxygen station equipment, procurement and installation of oxygen plants, implementation of an oxygen network piping system to distribute medical oxygen to the wards in each hospital, and training of 21 skilled technical workers. Ministry of Public Health and Population engineers thoroughly...

28 January 2024

Lifeline of hope: health care in remote areas is enhanced by the KSrelief oxygen station

28 January 2024  – Nestled in the remote reaches of Bayhan district, Shaheed Al Defaiaah Hospital is a vital element of health care provision. In this isolated part of Yemen, this hospital provides access to medical care at reasonable prices, making it a lifeline to local communities. The hospital plays a crucial role in facilitating the urgent transfer of patients who require complex and specialized treatment while ensuring that others in need receive timely and proper care. Given this critical mission, the support from King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) to...

25 January 2024

Breathing life into Yemen: impact of the Five Oxygen Stations life-saving initiative

Yemen’s struggle: a need for oxygen amid the crisis Due to the crisis in Yemen has left many health facilities grappling with urgent needs that must be met to be able to provide essential health services. These needs include electricity and fuel: a shortage affecting both the public and private sectors and disrupting oxygen production is making an already critical situation worse. Medical oxygen is a life-saving and therapeutic treatment for various medical conditions. These include both acute and chronic diseases such as respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, COVID-19 and pneumonia, along with...

08 January 2024

The silent struggle: Yemen’s mental health crisis

8 January 2024 – Years of conflict have cast a dark shadow on Yemen, both on its physical infrastructure and on the health and well-being of its people. Mental health has been overlooked for far too long, and now a hidden crisis is festering. Mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services are lacking in many parts of the country, owing to shortages of trained professionals and treatment facilities. Even where such services are available, people may feel unable to access them owing to social disapproval. An estimated 7 million people, about a...

16 November 2023

Epidemiological situation in Yemen: diphtheria

16 November 2023, Sana’a, Yemen – Reports of diphtheria cases in Yemen (to 14 October 2023) are 57% higher than in 2021 and 2022. Cases have risen gradually since 2021, with a significant increase noted in 2023. So far this year, 1671 suspected diphtheria cases have been reported in the country, with 109 associated deaths, compared with 1283 cases reported in the whole of 2022. Diphtheria is typically a winter illness, so the increase in cases noted from June to September 2023 marks a change from the usual seasonal pattern. In response...

29 October 2023

Yemen struck by Tropical Cyclone Tej as its health system struggles to cope

29 October 2023, Sana’a, Yemen – Tropical Cyclone Tej hit Yemen’s eastern coast areas of Al Mahrah Governorate and Socotra archipelago on 23 and 24 October 2023. As of 24 October, the storm moved towards the eastern regions of Hadramout Governorate. The affected areas experienced heavy and torrential rains that led to major damage to infrastructure including health facilities, roads, telecommunications lines and electricity. In Al Mahrah Governorate, severe weather conditions and damage to roads hindered access to rescue stranded people and protect lives. Information about the situation remains limited but...

24 October 2023

Children battle preventable childhood diseases in Yemen as immunization coverage declines

24 October 2023, Sana’a, Yemen – Yemen is facing a significant drop in immunization rates among children. This decline continues to worsen owing to economic deterioration, low incomes, displacement, and overcrowded living conditions in camps, coupled with an overstretched health system. This has led to a resurgence and rise in vaccine-preventable diseases and associated deaths among children in Yemen. Millions of children cannot be reached by routine immunization activities, and suspected cases of vaccine-preventable diseases have reached unprecedented levels. According to the WHO-UNICEF National Immunization Coverage Estimate for 2022, about one...

11 October 2023

The overlooked mental health crisis in Yemen

11 October 2023 ‒ In war-torn Yemen, mental health is often neglected. Limited access to mental health services means that only 120 000 of the estimated 7 million people in need of such support receive help. Aisha’s story  Aisha Mohammed, a 38-year-old with disabilities, has faced lifelong challenges with speaking and hearing. These difficulties led to her depression, causing her to isolate herself from society. Her sister, Azhar, who shared Aisha’s story, would long to see her sister smile and engage easily in conversations.  Azhar shared that Aisha’s mental health struggles began in childhood but...

10 October 2023

Millions of people in Yemen face the trauma and socioeconomic pressures of 9 years of conflict with limited services

10 October 2023, Sana’a, Yemen – While some health issues are evident, others remain unseen. The focus of health actors on risks that lead directly to death has kept the attention away from mental health risks. Yet mental health conditions have severe consequences for communities. The need for mental health and psychosocial support is rapidly increasing. People in Yemen are suffering from trauma and problems exacerbated by violence, displacement, unemployment, hunger and poverty. Such health needs remain among the most culturally stigmatized and least prioritized. The Yemen Humanitarian Needs Overview 2023...

24 September 2023

WHO and UNICEF collaborate on emergency integrated measles and rubella vaccination campaign in 13 governorates in Yemen

23 September 2023, Aden, Yemen – The Ministry of Public Health and Population in Aden, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO), is set to implement a measles-rubella, vitamin A and COVID-19 integrated vaccination campaign. This joint effort aims to combat the ongoing outbreaks and spread of measles and rubella in Yemen. The 6-day integrated measles and rubella vaccination campaign kicked off on the morning of Saturday 23 September 2023 and will target 1 267 082 children aged 6 to 59 months across 121...

17 September 2023

World Patient Safety Day 2023:

17 September 2023, Yemen — Patient safety is an intrinsic element of healthcare quality, and its significance cannot be overstated. Unsafe healthcare practices can lead to severe consequences for patients, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality rates. In low- and middle-income countries, 134 million adverse events occur each year due to unsafe care in hospitals, contributing to 2.6 million deaths annually. Globally one out of ten patients experience harm in primary and ambulatory settings, with more than 50% of this harm being preventable. The theme for World Patient Safety Day 2023...

31 August 2023

WHO concerned over increase in measles and rubella cases among children in Yemen

31 August 2023—The World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned over increasing cases of measles and rubella among children in Yemen. As of 31 July this year, the number of suspected cases of measles and rubella in Yemen has reached almost 34,300 cases and 413 deaths, compared to 27,000 cases and 220 associated deaths in 2022. There is also limited information on the outbreak’s impact on pregnant women who remain at high risk. “Ideally, the outbreak response vaccination campaign should target at least all children under the age of ten to be...

22 August 2023

The power of resilience: Yemeni families overcoming challenges against all odds

22 August 2023, Aden – Ahmed Abdel-Jabbar, a five-month-old baby, was admitted to Al-Sadaqa Hospital in Aden, Yemen yesterday, lethargic and suffering from severe diarrhea. His mother, Fawzia Jamal, 30, has four children, and Ahmed is the youngest. Her husband washes cars to earn a living, but his work is not consistent. The family's income is unpredictable, and they struggle to make ends meet. "For us, every day is a struggle. It's challenging to make plans since we never know how much money we'll have from one day to the next. We...

22 August 2023

WHO completes consultations with Yemen health authorities for Country Cooperation Strategy 2024-2025

WHO completes consultations with Yemen health authorities for Country Cooperation Strategy 2024-2025 22 August 2023, Aden – The World Health Organization (WHO) has completed a series of consultations with the health authorities in Yemen with the goal of finalizing the Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) for Yemen for 2024-2025. This important step signifies the commitment of WHO and health authorities to build on the current close collaboration to advance the health and well-being of the Yemeni people. As the success of the CCS hinges upon active collaboration among WHO, health authorities, and other...

18 August 2023

Statement by Dr Arturo Pesigan, WHO Representative, on the occasion of World Humanitarian Day 2023

17 August 2023 – This year’s World Humanitarian Day theme – “No Matter What” – captures the unyielding commitment of the World Health Organization in Yemen, our steadfast donors and partners, the dedicated health staff working tirelessly every day, and the fearless communities we serve, all united in a shared mission to save lives and enhance health, regardless of the challenges that face us. Our donors and partners, who enable WHO to continue its life-saving work, exemplify the true essence of humanitarianism. Their unwavering support fuels our efforts to strengthen health systems,...

17 August 2023

The silent cries of hunger in Yemen

18 August 2023 – After the conflict cast its shadow on Yemen, many families were forced to leave their areas of origin and flee to other locations for security and shelter. This was the case with Khaled's family, who fled their home in Al Hodeida to Aden for protection. Living in a camp for internally displaced people (IDP) after they left their hometown, Khaled's father struggled to find work, leaving them in with limited resources and unable to afford even the most basic food like plain bread. Hunger severely impacted Khaled’s health,...

17 August 2023

The daily fight between life and death in Yemen

17 August 2023 – Five-month-old Malak lives with her mother and 2 siblings in Al-Mukalla city, an area affected by devastation as a result of the prolonged conflict. Like many of the babies and children in her area, Malak started her young life suffering from malnutrition as a result of her family’s extreme poverty. The youngest of the 2 siblings, Malak was born just before her parents divorced. Her mother was forced to become the sole breadwinner amidst the country's challenging socioeconomic situation. Read the full story

17 August 2023

Battling malnutrition in Yemen: helping children recover and thrive

17 August 2023 – One of the most severe consequences of the conflict in Yemen has been widespread food insecurity and increasing numbers of malnourished children. The current level of hunger across the country is unprecedented, with 17 million Yemenis facing food insecurity. Child malnutrition in Yemen is among the highest in the world, with almost 2.2 million Yemeni children under the age of 5 acutely malnourished, including 538 000 children severely malnourished and 60 000 children suffering from critical medical complications as a result of severe acute malnutrition. Agricultural activities, trade...

15 August 2023

A trip for life: sustaining life-saving health services in priority governorates of Yemen

15 August 2023 – While pregnant and waiting for the day she could finally hold her new child in her arms, she was faced with the devastating news of her medical diagnosis instead. Louza Saleh, from Sa’adah governorate, was pregnant with her third child when she started to feel extremely sick and lost her ability to walk. She was rushed to the hospital, where she was told the devastating news of her diagnosis of renal failure. “My sickness started during my pregnancy, I bled a lot and didn’t know what was wrong....

20 July 2023

Improving quality of care: Yemen's pathway to universal health coverage

20 July 2023, Aden | Sana’a – Quality of care is critical to improve health outcomes, patient satisfaction and cost-efficiency in health service delivery. That’s why WHO and the World Bank, via the Emergency Human Capital Project (EHCP), are collaborating with health authorities in Yemen to enhance the quality of health services using a multi-pronged approach. In 2022 and 2023, five workshops were conducted in Aden and Sana’a to develop a situation analysis of quality of health care in Yemen. The workshops engaged 270 key focus group members (24% female) from...

09 July 2023

Advancing health, rebuilding knowledge

Yemen’s heroes—the key to sustainable health outcomes Multidimensional poverty, economic deterioration, illiteracy, and security, all remnants of a prolonged conflict, have coalesced into a forgotten crisis that has gripped millions of Yemenis, who continue to suffer from the highest rates of chronic malnutrition and poor health in the world. “I’ve been a doctor at the therapeutic feeding centre since day one. I work with severe acute malnutrition cases referred from the hospital’s emergency department and from other hospitals in Aden and nearby governorates,” says Dr. Mohsen Saleh, a pediatric doctor at Al...

13 June 2023

ADEN, June 13, 2023 – Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have jointly announced a new one-year, USD1.89 million program to more sustainably integrate COVID-19 vaccines and medical oxygen supplies into primary health care (PHC) services of Yemen. The USAID-funded program will support the operations and running costs of eight oxygen plants, with a focus on delivering COVID-19 care to critically ill patients in the intensive care units (ICUs) of at least five referral hospitals. It will also enable WHO to train ICU...

07 June 2023

Community health volunteers in Yemen: Empowering pregnant and nursing mothers to make best health choices

Across Yemen today, around 1.3 million pregnant or nursing mothers and 2.2 million children under age five require treatment for acute malnutrition. Health literacy is a critical tool for sustaining and saving their lives, especially when they are conflict-displaced and unable to access basic necessities like food, clean water, and primary health care. The World Health Organization (WHO) in partnership with the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) is supporting a refresher training for a network of 1,277 community health and nutrition volunteers to equip pregnant and breastfeeding women...

01 May 2023

Ensuring timely healthcare to improve dignified living conditions for the most vulnerable in Yemen

1 May 2023 – In response to high levels of food insecurity and diminishing health services, WHO and UNOCHA have been working in coordination with health authorities to provide and improve dignified living conditions for the most vulnerable internally displaced persons (IDPs) in under-served IDP sites in Hudaydah, Marib, Taiz, Shabwah, Hadramout and Al Jawf governorates. In partnership with UNOCHA, WHO has supported 11 TFCs in conflict-affected areas where malnourished children under five years of age have been supported with nutrition and pediatric services. This programme of care includes provisions of essential medical...

23 April 2023

Stopping malaria at the source

23 April 2023, Sana’a – More than 21 million people in Yemen are estimated to live in areas at risk of malaria, with more than 1 million malaria cases estimated to occur every year.  To curb the huge threat to health posed by the disease, WHO recommends indoor residual spraying (IRS) and use of insecticide-treated bed nets as core vector control interventions in malaria-endemic areas.  Under the Emergency Human Capital Project (EHCP), with the World Bank’s support, WHO conducted an IRS campaign in November–December 2022 in the 54 districts most affected by...

19 April 2023

Vaccine-preventable diseases continue to spread in Yemen

Daunting challenges to immunization efforts are disproportionately affecting the youngest children It’s not just polio. Against the backdrop of ongoing conflict, widespread malnutrition and shortages of food and medicine, one of Yemen’s fastest growing problems, is, ironically, easily solvable: multiple outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. The numbers are daunting. Yemen recorded more than 22,000 measles cases in 2022, including 161 deaths. In 2023 to date, cases have already spiked to 9,418, with 77 children dead. Diphtheria and pertussis – whooping cough – cases are also on the rise, as are deaths from each...

06 April 2023

World Health Day 2023: commemorating seven decades of public health history in Yemen

 — WHO Constitution When diplomats met to form the United Nations in 1945, one of the earliest things they discussed was the setting up a global health organization. On 7 April 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO) was born and celebrated with the first-ever World Health Day. Five years later, in 1953, Yemen became the 81st country to join the WHO. This year’s World Health Day marks WHO’s 75th birthday, and its 70th year of service to the people and government of Yemen. Read the full story Arabic version of the story

02 April 2023

Acute food insecurity threatens child survival across Yemen

With continued support from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), the World Health Organization (WHO) is providing essential medicines, medical supplies, equipment, and training to eight high-priority hospitals in Yemen to treat severe acute malnutrition (SAM) among children under five. Eight long years of grinding conflict has devastated Yemen’s economy, while widespread food shortages and soaring prices have pushed about half of the country's population of 31.6 million people into acute food insecurity. Of this number, 1.15 million children under age 5 are presently suffering from moderate acute...

30 March 2023

Eight years and counting: achieving peace through health in conflict-ravaged Yemen

30 March 2023 – The conflict in Yemen has become a largely forgotten and neglected humanitarian crisis in which two-thirds of the population – more than 20 million people – are in present need of urgent health assistance. But as this protracted conflict now enters its ninth year, there is renewed hope for eventual peace and health, for all Yemenis. “Arabia Felix”, or “Happy Yemen” – as this beautiful and once-prospering country was called in ancient Roman times – is deeply suffering and impoverished today. Since March 2014, long years of conflict have...

28 March 2023

WHO advocacy to empower female health workers in Yemen

28 March 2023, Aden | Sana’a – In a context of increasing restrictions on women in Yemen, WHO is advocating for gender equality and to address gender-based violence. Through the Emergency Human Capital Project (EHCP) supported by the World Bank, WHO is negotiating and succeeding in increasing the participation of female health workers in capacity-building and field work activities.  WHO Representative to Yemen, Dr Adham Rashad Ismail Abdel Moneim, explains the importance of this approach:  “Empowering female health workers has immediate benefits for the women involved, as they are given learning opportunities...

25 March 2023

Eight years of prolonged conflict in Yemen leave over 20 million people in need of urgent health assistance

Cairo, 25 March 2023 – With 8 years of protracted conflict and humanitarian crisis, over two thirds of Yemen’s population – 21.6 million people – are in acute need of humanitarian assistance, including over 20 million people requiring urgent health assistance. The country’s health system continues to fall short of meeting the population’s needs. Only 54% of health facilities are fully functioning, while 46% are only partially operating or entirely out of service. “The world cannot continue to ignore Yemen. We call on expanded and sustained international support to health systems and the brave...

23 March 2023

Bravery and resilience in the face of adversity

23 March 2023 – For many Yemeni women who are pregnant, breastfeeding and displaced by conflict, hard-to-reach and struggling hospitals are still working to save their lives, and deliver new ones. When Horia, 37, began experiencing life-threatening complications due to a high-risk pregnancy, she learned that the one health facility near to her village was inadequately staffed and equipped to help her.  Horia’s family urged her to let them take her to the ER of Qafl Shamer hospital in the Qafl Shamer district of Hajjah governorate. Horia made it to the hospital, she arrived suffering...

09 March 2023

The heroic efforts of Yemen’s healthcare workers: selflessly serving to advance health for all

9 March 2023 – As Yemeni women face extreme hardships linked to prolonged conflict, many are serving selflessly, under enormous pressures, at badly overstretched health facilities where millions of children and families depend on them for hope, healing and survival. According to the UN’s Yemen Humanitarian Needs Overview 2023 (HNO), severe health threats and limited access to health services pose greatest risks to children and women who are highly vulnerable to malnutrition and preventable diseases. In 2021, Yemen ranked 155th of 156 countries on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index. Subject...

02 March 2023

For Yemen’s children, the path to a polio diagnosis starts with a remarkable road trip

2 March 2023 – Stopping any polio outbreak starts with vaccine procurement, transport by airplanes and trucks, distribution involving complex logistics, and eventually the oral administration of the vaccine by drops in the mouths of every eligible child. However, there is another, lesser known but equally important process that must also take place to halt transmission of the poliovirus. It begins with a humble thumb sized stool sample taken from a child with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), then delivered to the nearest laboratory that can test the sample specifically for poliovirus. But nowhere...

26 February 2023

Yemen’s health crisis: WHO calls for increased funding to save millions of Yemenis

Sana’a, Yemen, 26 February 2023 – Ahead of tomorrow’s High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen, the World Health Organization (WHO) together with its Health Cluster partners in Yemen is appealing for US$ 392 million to reach 12.9 million people with essential health assistance in 2023. “Yemen requires urgent and robust support from international donors and other partners to effectively avert the potential collapse of its health system,” said Dr Adham Abdel Moneim, WHO Representative in Yemen. “New funding to the amount of US$ 392 million is required by...

12 February 2023

Strength from suffering

Heroism on the frontlines of Yemen’s fight against genetic blood disorders 12 February 2023– Rehab Fuad has survived deep poverty, chronic anemia and fatigue since being diagnosed with an inherited blood disorder – and all before reaching her first birthday. But Rehab’s suffering has made her a much stronger person today. Highly resilient and resolutely focused on achieving her dreams, she is determined to live every day with as much purpose and positivity as she can. Thalassemia is the disease that has caused Rehab to experience an exhaustingly difficult lifetime of weakness, fatigue, accelerated...

08 February 2023

Keeping the doors open at Yemen’s Al Mukalla Hospital

8 February 2023  – WHO is partnering with the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to ensure that pregnant mothers and newborns keep receiving vital and often life-saving care. The Al Mukalla Hospital is the only public hospital providing obstetrics, gynecology, newborn care services in the seaport city of Al Mukalla, Yemen’s sixth-largest city. Public access to essential health services in the city has been continuously impacted by surrounding conflict since 2015. Meanwhile, the yearly number of births at the Al Mukalla Hospital has averaged between 4,000 and 7,000 from 2019...

05 February 2023

Enhancing critical care capacities in Yemen

Sana’a, 15 January 2023 – The COVID-19 pandemic drew attention to weaknesses in critical and intensive care capacities in Yemen and other countries. To ensure hospitals are better equipped to meet these needs in the future, WHO and the authorities in Yemen, with support from the World Bank, are working hard to strengthen the health system and to build back better as part of the Yemen COVID-19 Response Project (YCRP). In June 2022, WHO launched a nine-week National Critical Care Training (NCCT) in Aden to build specialized skills among 48 doctors...

01 February 2023

Giving severely malnourished children a fighting chance

1 February 2023 – Imagine being forced to remain at home, watching your malnourished child waste away, with no money for their transportation or treatment. This is a reality for many parents in Yemen today.  The majority of Yemeni children below age 5 are highly likely to suffer the consequences of armed conflict and lack of basic life services from their first years of life.  An estimated 4.1 million children will need humanitarian assistance in 2023, according to the Humanitarian Needs Overview analysis for this year.  According to the Humanitarian Needs Overview analysis...

31 January 2023

Medicines or meals? Desperate choices for most vulnerable Yemenis

31 January 2023–Yemen’s economy and health systems rank among the least developed in the world. Overstretched health facilities struggle to provide even the most basic services to the country’s 34.24 million people. For most vulnerable Yemeni households, daily survival can be reduced to a desperate choice between needed medicines or a next meal. Free medicines and healthcare services are prerequisites for many Yemenis to embark on often arduous journeys to hard-to-reach health facilities. This constitutes a dire predicament driven by the context of Yemen’s ongoing armed conflict and complex human crisis...

25 January 2023

Essential medicines, supplies and training ensure the survival of mothers and newborns across Yemen

23 January 2023  – At hospitals and health facilities throughout Yemen, the World Health Organization (WHO) is partnering with the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief centre (KSrelief) to provide essential life-saving medicines, supplies and training for ensuring the survival of mothers and newborns. Together with KSrelief, WHO has supported the Ras al-Ara Health Centre with reproductive health kits containing essential medical supplies, medicines and reusable instruments for its maternal health services that are provided free of charge – from mothers’ early pregnancy to infant delivery. Read the full story Arabic version of the story

23 January 2023

Keeping Yemen’s public health laboratories equipped and operating

23 January 2023 – Yemen’s humanitarian crisis, now in its eighth year, has crippled the country’s health facilities and laboratories, while curtailing the quality and availability of many essential health services. The World Health Organization (WHO) has renewed its partnership with the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) to provision Yemen’s health system with medicines, supplies, and equipment needed for general care, child health, reproductive and maternal health, dialysis, and treatment of non-communicable diseases. Read the full story

15 December 2022

Texts from the field: life-saving impacts of basic and advanced life support training in Yemen

15 December 2022 – The following text messages were received by WHO staff from trainers and participants within one month of completing basic and advanced life support training in the third quarter of 2022. The training was conducted with the World Bank’s support via the Yemen COVID-19 Response Project. Related links Enhancing basic and advanced life support skills among Yemen’s health workforce Trainees take immediate proactive steps to cascade life-saving skills

15 December 2022

Trainees take immediate, proactive steps to cascade life-saving skills

Taizz | Sayoun, 22 November 2022 – Participants from WHO’s recent basic and advanced life support trainings in Yemen are taking matters into their own hands to rollout these lifesaving skills to their peers. Among the more than 1200 health workers trained, below are some success stories of health workers playing critical roles in improving delivery of lifesaving care for the Yemeni people. The training was conducted with the World Bank’s support via the Yemen COVID-19 Response Project (YCRP).  Dr Raef is working in the Al-Jamohoury Hospital Cardiac Centre and is...

15 December 2022

Enhancing basic and advanced life support skills among Yemen’s health workforce

Aden and Sana’a, 22 November 2022 – The COVID-19 pandemic reaffirmed for the world the importance of health systems having strong intensive care capacities in place to save lives.  As part of building back better after the pandemic, WHO and the World Bank, through the Yemen COVID-19 Response Project (YCRP) have trained more than 1200 health workers in recent months to provide life-saving care to COVID-19 patients experiencing severe illness. The training will also help to build critical skills needed to save lives in emergencies.  Some efforts have been made to understand...

15 December 2022

Tackling mental health challenges in Yemen by building capacities

Sana’a, Aden, 5 December 2022 – Mental health disorders have increased in Yemen over the past 8 years due to the impact of conflict on people’s lives, homes, communities, and livelihoods. Estimates indicate that one in 4 Yemenis, or over 5.5 million people, suffer from mental health disorders and require medical intervention.  Access to care for people with mental health disorders is incredibly challenging in Yemen. There are only 58 psychiatrists and 120 psychologists in the country as of 2020, and there are also severe shortages in other related cadres such...

01 December 2022

Women at the forefront of Yemen's healthcare response to COVID-19

1 December 2022 – Dr Reem Tawfiq Ali Saeed is the director of the Al-Tawahi Health Center on the outskirts of Aden, in South Yemen. During her six months as the center’s director, Dr Saeed has already faced multiple difficulties in managing the needs of both patients and staff. The support we receive from the World Health Organization and KSrelief [King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center] is extensive, and includes the provision of vaccines to fight the spread of COVID-19, said Dr Saeed. Read the full story Arabic version of the story

21 November 2022

Aiding Yemen’s children

21 November 2022 – Children under age five are among the most vulnerable of all Yemenis to the ravages of disease, food insecurity, unsafe water, and other ever-present threats to their survival. Summer Mansour Hussein is the mother of five children. Her youngest, Malka, is extremely fortunate to have reached her first birthday after nearly succumbing to severe acute malnutrition (SAM) that stalks the infants and young children of Yemen’s IDP camps in league with outbreaks of deadly and debilitating communicable diseases. Read the full story Arabic version of the story

13 November 2022

Quality of health care in Yemen: a matter of life and death

13 November 2022 – Over the past five years, WHO and the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MoPHP) have worked together with the World Bank’s International Development Association to prevent the collapse of Yemen’s health system. More than 70 hospitals have received needed commodities to keep serving communities even during times of intense conflict. Key support provided includes fuel, oxygen, water, medicines, consumables, equipment and training. Now, under the Emergency Human Capital Project (EHCP), key action areas include sustaining support to hospitals and zeroing-in to improve the quality of care that...

08 November 2022

Health workers still fighting COVID-19 in an exhausted health system

8 November 2022 – In Yemen, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a catastrophic health crisis – compounding one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, and further straining a long-exhausted health care system that is simultaneously struggling to prepare for and respond to a continuous chain of other disease outbreaks. Although the current number of reported COVID-19 cases in Yemen is 11,926, with 2,155 confirmed deaths to date, the actual numbers are underreported and undoubtedly far higher. A prevailing lack of community awareness about COVID-19 and the necessity and safety of vaccines...

07 November 2022

Strengthening pre-hospital trauma and emergency care services in Aden, Yemen

7 November 2022 – Against the backdrop of Yemen’s long-running civil conflict and deepening humanitarian crisis, WHO is working with the Ministry of Public Health and Population and EU Humanitarian Aid to sustain and strengthen the country’s only life-saving pre-hospital trauma and emergency care services in the metropolitan area of Aden governorate. For the fifth consecutive year, Yemen is recording the highest country caseload of conflict-related trauma in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. Injuries account for 60% of deaths among children ages 5–14, as well as 36% of deaths among persons from...

25 October 2022

Saving lives with dialysis in Yemen

25 October 2022  –  Thousands of Yemenis with kidney disease require dialysis treatments to keep them alive and well. WHO in partnership with KSrelief continues provisioning health facilities with dialysis equipment, supplies and financial support needed to sustain dialysis for about 3,500 patients across the country. Read the full story Arabic version of the story

25 October 2022

Partnering to fight COVID-19

25 October 2022  – WHO in partnership with USAID has mounted successive COVID-19 vaccination campaigns that have immunized nearly 881,000 people to date in IRG-controlled Southern and Eastern Yemen. But vaccination progress has been continually slowed by misinformed and fear-based community rumors. Only 10.7% of persons living in the 122 districts of 13 IRG-controlled governorates have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine delivered to Yemen through COVAX (a global initiative aimed at providing equitable public access to COVID-19 vaccines). Through COVAX, the US Government provided the Janssen vaccine to...

11 October 2022

IsDB and WHO provide sustainable life-saving medical oxygen for millions in Yemen

Yemen, 11 October 2022 — The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) inaugurated 14 oxygen stations across Yemen this week. This life-saving intervention is the epitome of health systems strengthening and improving its resiliency in Yemen and is the fruit of the strategic partnership between WHO and IsDB. The establishment of the oxygen stations is part of a larger project: “IsDB Group Emergency Support for the COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan in the Republic of Yemen”, which was implemented in collaboration with the country’s Ministry of...

10 October 2022

10 October 2022(Yemen)  Since December 2020, the EHS Project has ensured access to essential health services for over 1.26 million Yemenis in 228 health facilities countrywide. Life-saving support to these facilities has included fuel, safe water, medicines, medical oxygen and equipment, laboratory supplies, capacity-building, four computed tomography (CT) scans, and two magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices for ensuring continuum and quality of care.  “Since the start of the ongoing conflict in Yemen, the health workforce has faced monumental challenges in providing essential health care,” said Dr Adham Dr Adham Rashad Ismail Abdel-Moneim,...

26 September 2022

Severely malnourished but resilient

22 September – Hunger is spreading in Yemen after many donor countries have cut back on critical humanitarian aid. At least 60,000 children are now acutely malnourished and require urgent care. One of them is Nuha, who with her mother has endured the extremes of poverty and food insecurity. Yemen’s intractable political, military, and humanitarian crisis continues to exact a heavy toll on the country’s health system – and on families now facing unrelenting hunger. Read the full story Arabic version of the story

25 September 2022

Surviving hunger in Yemen

22 September 2022 – Families in Yemen who endure prolonged exposure to armed conflict and grinding poverty are forced to live on the thinnest margins of survival – especially when displaced from their homes and lacking access to food, clean water, and basic nutrition and medical services. Om Salim confronts the cruel realities of hunger every day as a mother of two young children living in extreme poverty. The family must routinely skip meals, and often has nothing to eat for a day if not longer.  Read the fulll story Arabic version of the story

12 September 2022

Changing minds and protecting lives in Yemen

12 September 2022 - In Yemen as elsewhere, widespread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines has posed a major public health threat. With support from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief), WHO has trained more than 1,100 health workers and community volunteers to communicate factual information about the vaccines – prompting many more Yemenis to accept them. Read the full story Arabic version of the story

07 September 2022

4 September 2022 – The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a 12-month project to sustain the delivery of life-saving emergency health services for the most vulnerable in conflict-affected zones across Yemen thanks to a €2.5 million contribution from the European Union. The partnership aims to directly assist more than 152,000 Yemenis, including 33,000 children and 30,500 internally displaced people. Seventeen hospitals across Yemen will receive support in four main areas of humanitarian health service delivery: trauma care and emergency care referral services; mental health and psychosocial support; strengthening of the...

31 August 2022

Giving newborns a healthy start to life in Yemen

31 August 2022, Aden – The first 90 minutes of a newborn’s life are a critical window to prevent sepsis, asphyxia, and other birth complications. In these first moments, there are simple, cost-effective practices that can benefit every mother and child. The key components are to dry the baby immediately and thoroughly after birth, to do immediate skin-to-skin contact for at least 90 minutes, to clamp the cord after pulsations stop and cut the cord with a sterile instrument, and to initiate early breastfeeding.   Other key interventions include ensuring the presence of...

31 August 2022

Training senior health staff to improve service delivery in Yemen

Aden, Sana’a, 31 August 2022 – Quality care in health facilities is key to a high performing health system. To achieve this, managers and senior officials must be equipped with the skills, knowledge and attitude to course correct when there are challenges and lead action for continuous improvements in service delivery. In 2019, through the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project, with the support of the World Bank, WHO developed the hospital care and management programme for Yemen, to help in addressing major issues in hospital management. A pilot phase initially trained...

31 August 2022

Yemeni women at the forefront of the COVID-19 response

Aden, 31 August 2022 – For the past 13 years, Yemen has ranked last in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index. Where women lack access to participate in health, education, the economy and politics, societies and future generations suffer. That’s why achieving a basic level of participation of women in the workforce against COVID-19 was a key result indicator in the design of the Yemen COVID-19 Response Project implemented by WHO and the World Bank.  Dr Adham Rashad Ismail Abdel Moneim, the WHO Representative to Yemen explains, “The Yemen...

31 August 2022

One child at a time, WHO and the World Bank transform the lives of millions of children exposed to a silent disease – schistosomiasis

31 August 2022, Aden, Sana’a – Schistosomiasis is an acute and chronic parasitic disease caused by infection with blood flukes (trematode worms). This disease infects vulnerable communities in Yemen exposed to infested water – putting many lives at risk, especially those of young children.  Through the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project and its successor the Yemen Emergency Human Capital Project, the World Bank’s International Development Association and WHO are working to detect, diagnose, treat and care for infected patients with schistosomiasis across Yemen.  The importance of tackling this often-overlooked disease is critical....

17 August 2022

Sana’a, 16 August 2022 – In urgent response to the needs of the communities affected by floods in Yemen, the World Health Organization (WHO) has provided emergency health and laboratory supplies, supported specialized trauma teams and joined field missions with national health authorities and other humanitarian partners. Triggered by the heavy seasonal rains, extensive flooding has ravaged several governorates in Yemen since mid-July 2022. Tens of thousands of people have been affected so far, with more than 35 000 households impacted across 85 districts in 16 governorates, according to local authorities.  At...

14 August 2022

Protecting Yemeni children against measles and rubella

15 August 2022 - WHO together with public health authorities and partners is implementing a vaccination campaign against outbreaks of measles and rubella. The campaign aims to protect 1.35 million infants and children up to age 10, in 74 high-risk districts of 10 governorates across Southern Yemen. Read the full story Arabic version of the story

28 July 2022

Responding to Yemen's unseen mental health crisis

12 June 2022 - Mohamed (not his real name) is a 35-year-old patient at the Al Amal hospital in Sana’a – one of only four hospitals in Yemen providing care to persons with mental disorders. Mohamed (not his real name) is a 35-year-old patient at the Al Amal hospital in Sana’a – one of only four hospitals in Yemen providing care to persons with mental disorders. A father of four, Mohamed is isolated from his wife and children. He thinks about them constantly. “They have nothing to eat,” he says, eyes welled with...

24 July 2022

Fighting COVID-19 and strengthening the backbone of pandemic preparedness and response

Sana’a, 2 June 2022 – Every country needs a strong health workforce to monitor and respond quickly to any increase in cases of infectious diseases. The world saw this clearly during the COVID-19 pandemic and it is a key lesson to take forward. WHO and World Bank partnership on eIDEWS and rapid response teams In Yemen, every year, cases of cholera, dengue, diphtheria, malaria, measles, and other diseases are reported. To support the authorities to rapidly detect and respond to these threats, WHO and the World Bank have worked together in partnership...

06 July 2022

Yemen’s top AFP surveillance officer on what the indicators tell us

With cVDPV1 and cVDPV2 outbreaks unfolding against the backdrop of a major humanitarian crisis, polio surveillance has never been tougher – or more important At his office in Sana’a, Yemen, Dr Mutahar Ahmed stands before a wall-sized map of his country and feels the weight of the world on his shoulders.  “The situation here in Yemen is very complex, and the problems we face are quite immense,” said Dr Ahmed. As Yemen’s national surveillance coordinator, Dr Ahmed leads the country’s acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance efforts, the primary means of tracking poliovirus transmission....

04 July 2022

Building a specialized cadre of doctors and nurses to save lives in Yemen

Aden, 22 June 2022 – Providing critical care in Yemen is a challenging task. Doctors and nurses with the skills and knowledge needed to save lives are often pulled to the private sector and abroad because of better salaries and working conditions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, short-term intensive care and critical care trainings have filled an important gap in strengthening case management capacities. The WHO Representative to Yemen, Dr Adham Rashad Ismail Abdel Moneim explains “with support from partners, including the World Bank, WHO and the Ministry of Public Health and...

31 May 2022

Lifesaving oxygen stations to be installed at 5 main hospitals in Hadramout, Shabwa, Marib and Abyan

31 May 2022 – The World Health Organization (WHO), in partnership with the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), will install lifesaving oxygen stations in 5 main hospitals located in priority southern governorates of Hadramout, Shabwa, Marib and Abyan. The 5 oxygen stations will be a critical support to hospitals for administering anaesthesia and treating critical medical emergencies, including severe cases of COVID-19, major trauma, cardiac arrest and shock. All require an uninterrupted oxygen supply to prevent permanent organ damage or even death of many patients.  “A sustainable oxygen supply...

31 May 2022

Sustaining and strengthening Yemen’s health care system for COVID-19 response and delivery of other essential and life-saving services

31 May 2022 – The World Health Organization (WHO) is partnering with the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) to sustain the COVID-19 response and essential services at targeted health care facilities, combined with community-based interventions. These focused and extensive health interventions will be carried out by WHO in Yemen over the next 10 months, with US$ 10.86 million in total project funding from KSrelief. Interventions are being guided by vulnerability assessessments of exacerbating factors such as morbidity, environmental hazards and social determinants of health. The interventions will follow...

31 May 2022

WHO project to boost COVID-19 vaccination coverage in Yemen

31 May 2022 – WHO has started a 6-month, US$ 2.8 million project to increase COVID-19 vaccination coverage to 10% in 13 governorates and 133 districts of southern Yemen.  In partnership with the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), WHO is securing and distributing new vaccines and supplies to districts and facilities, coupled with training and deployment of COVID-19 vaccination teams to vaccination sites in these governorates and districts.  Major hospitals and health centres are serving as fixed vaccination sites, with smaller facilities in selected communities serving as temporary sites....

29 May 2022

Reviewing the minimum services needed for a healthy Yemen

Sana’a and Aden, 29 May 2022 – Every person should have access to the health care they need. That’s why in Yemen, the health authorities, in collaboration with WHO, UNICEF and the World Bank, are reviewing the Minimum Service Package (MSP). The first MSP was developed in 2017 during a difficult period of intensifying conflict. The package was rapidly developed based on the Disease Control Priorities (DCP3) package and rolled out by the authorities, WHO and UNICEF through the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project with the World Bank’s support, to more...

12 May 2022

EU-funded WHO programme provides vital support to life-saving emergency and trauma care in Yemen

Aden, Yemen 12 May 2022 – With support from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), the World Health Organization (WHO) has supplied vital training, equipment and supplies that is allowing medical facilities to improve trauma, emergency and blood bank services for thousands of Yemeni citizens in conflict zones. “The armed conflict in Yemen has intensified the country’s deep need for emergency and trauma care, especially for people in conflict zones,” said Dr Adham Rashad Ismail, WHO Representative in Yemen. “In the past year, with ECHO’s support, we have...

09 May 2022

Saving Yemeni lives through malaria education and outreach

9 May 2022 - For the past several years, Yemen has been described as the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis” due to its protracted war and subsequent economic collapse. This has only been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and the spread of other diseases. In response to the country’s acute and tragic health outcomes, the World Health Organization (WHO), with funding from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSRelief), is supporting the health system throughout Yemen, including national efforts to prevent and control the spread of malaria and dengue...

14 April 2022

Taking the battle against malaria to its source – the mosquito

14 April 2022 Despite significant declines in recent years, malaria still represents a serious public health problem in Yemen – especially against the backdrop of a war that has been raging since 2014, the country’s associated economic collapse, and the healthcare system’s limited capacity throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full story Arabic version of the story

13 April 2022

WHO and KSrelief join efforts in the fight against child malnutrition in Yemen

13 April 2022 (WHO) – With support from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), the World Health Organization (WHO) has begun providing essential medicines, equipment, and training to eight high-priority hospitals in Yemen for treating severe acute malnutrition among children under the age of five. WHO will support the pediatric units of these hospitals with essential medicines and equipment, training of health workers, and 192 PED/SAM kits for treating childhood illnesses including severe acute malnutrition with medical complications. “This is a life-saving intervention for thousands of children, to strengthen...

11 April 2022

WHO and KSrelief join efforts to improve water, sanitation and hygiene services in Yemen

11 April 2022  – In response to Yemen’s historic cholera outbreak and the heightened risk of other infectious diseases, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) have joined forces to improve water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) at health facilities throughout the country’s southern region.  The programme has targeted 45 health facilities in 19 governorates and 33 districts in southern Yemen at high risk for cholera, which is spread through water and food contaminated with faeces. The WHO programme is also improving safe disposal...

27 March 2022

Humanitarian crisis in Yemen: eight years on, WHO is strengthening the health system, responding to vital health needs, and saving lives

27 March 2022 - Since 2015, Yemen has faced a severe and complex humanitarian crisis due largely to the growing activities of armed groups, inter-community tensions, and economic decline. The Yemen crisis is also linked to additional factors such as food and nutrition insecurity, COVID-19, other disease outbreaks, climate change, and natural disasters. A devastated health system, disruption of water and sanitation networks, and massive numbers of displaced people have fueled the rapid spread of diseases including cholera, diphtheria, measles, polio, and dengue. Yet, amidst the devastation, the Yemeni people remain determined,...

22 March 2022

Doctors and volunteers fight malaria with nets, tests, and knowledge

22 March 2022 - The 2020 World Malaria Report estimated that 20.4 million Yemenis (65% of the total population) live in areas that are at high risk of transmission. Malaria is endemic in Hajar District, where torrential rainfall and subsequent pooling have created a fertile breeding ground for mosquitoes, cut off arterial roads to hospitals, and resulted in a large number of deaths. Thanks to a partnership between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief), residents have been given mosquito nets, aerosol sprays,...

22 March 2022

Improving health care skills to save newborn lives

Sana’a, 21 March 2022 – Millions of newborn babies globally are denied the chance to grow and thrive due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth. In Yemen, estimates suggest that a newborn baby dies every 20 minutes. To give newborns the best start in life, the health authorities in Yemen, with the support of WHO and the World Bank, are striving to improve the quality of care. To this end, the health authorities have drafted a national operational nursing guide for newborns. The guide was developed by an expert group of paediatricians,...

20 March 2022

WHO Yemen: ensuring access to clean water in health facilities

20 March 2022- Thousands of Yemeni children and adolescents suffer from thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder that causes anemia, fatigue, stunting, and even death. The disorder is manageable with blood transfusions and iron-chelating drugs, and patients who are treated can live normal lives. But the country's ongoing conflict has severely disrupted the supply of essential medicines for blood disorders, putting the health and lives of patients at risk. Read the full story Arabic version of the story

13 March 2022

Fighting to survive: saving the lives of Yemeni malnourished children

Hajjah, 1 March 2022 – Seven years of conflict in Yemen have taken a heavy toll on the population with serious humanitarian consequences. About 2.3 million children under-five-years-old in Yemen were estimated in 2021 to have acute malnutrition with 400,000 severe cases including 40,000 with medical complications. These children are fighting every day for their lives and need immediate, specialized lifesaving care to survive. A child with severe acute malnutrition is 9 times more likely to die than a well-nourished child. That’s why WHO’s work to sustain lifesaving care at more...

13 March 2022

Baby Jihad makes a full recovery in two weeks in Hajjah

1 March 2022- In a household in Bani Qais, 121 kilometres west of Hajjah City, a family watched with concern as their baby daughter, Jihad, was losing weight day by day. After one week of suffering at home, Jihad’s body started to swell. Her parents suffer from extreme financial difficulties and were worried they did not have the means to get their daughter the medical care she urgently needed. Still, they walked two kilometers to reach the nearest health center. When they arrived, after the first assessment, the health worker advised...

13 March 2022

Baby Bushra beats the odds in Hajjah

Rataban-Mabin district, 2 March 2022 – When Bushra was eight months old, her body grew more frail by the day and she developed diarrhea and a fever for more than a week. Her mother said: “I refused to transfer her to the city, not because I don’t love my child, but because we don’t have the cost of treatment and medicine. We were watching her dying for three painful days, after we learned from our village doctor that there is a health facility which offered free treatment. We rushed to...

02 March 2022

We started from zero: WHO and World Bank supporting COVID-19 response in war-torn Yemen by improving access to testing

“We had zero testing capacity, no one was trained, many health care workers neglected their role due to fear of COVID-19, but now with the support of WHO and the World Bank, all of us are trained and provided with lab equipment and supplies to help us minimize the spread of COVID-19 and revitalize Yemen’s destroyed health infrastructure,” Dr Mayada Gaafer, Deputy Head of Molecular Biology Laboratory, Central Public Health Laboratory, Aden   ADEN, 2 February 2022 – Dr Mayada is one of the first frontline health workers confronting the national laboratory...

02 March 2022

Over 3000 health workers empowered to stop infections in their tracks

Aden | Sana’a, 1 March 2022 – Over the past 2 years, communities everywhere have seen how quickly COVID-19 spreads. Even aside from the pandemic, in low- and middle-income countries, an estimated one in 10 people who are hospitalized will acquire a health care-associated infection. While data on the prevalence of such infections caused by the COVID-19 virus is not yet available in Yemen, WHO and local authorities, with the support of the World Bank, are investing in strengthening knowledge, skills and capacities to prevent infections in health facilities. Through the...

23 February 2022

Nearly 18 000 Yemenis with genetic blood disorders receive lifesaving medications under IsDB-funded WHO programme

Aden, Yemen, 1 March 2022 – Some 17,788 Yemeni citizens with thalassemia and other genetic blood disorders have received life-saving medications under an emergency World Health Organization (WHO) programme funded by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). The programme has exceeded expectations of delivering life-saving medications to 4,549 patients with thalassemia – the most common genetic blood disorder among Yemeni children and adolescents – as well as other genetic blood disorders by mid February 2022. “Thousands of patients with thalassemia and other genetic blood disorders were suffering with severe symptoms because they were...

23 February 2022

WHO and IsDB in Yemen: ensuring treatment for children with genetic blood disorders

23 February 2022- Thousands of Yemeni children and adolescents suffer from thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder that causes anemia, fatigue, stunting, and even death. The disorder is manageable with blood transfusions and iron-chelating drugs, and patients who are treated can live normal lives. But the country's ongoing conflict has severely disrupted the supply of essential medicines for blood disorders, putting the health and lives of patients at risk. Read the full story Arabic version of the story

19 January 2022

Volunteering for the fight against malaria in Yemen

17 January 2022 – WHO has joined forces with King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre to support malaria prevention and control efforts across the country.  As part of the malaria project, WHO, in partnership with KSrelief, has implemented vector control and indoor residual spraying campaigns in 13 governorates, reaching 5 424 381 people. Three main vector control interventions included space fogging, entomological surveillance, and community awareness to enhance detection and management of mosquitoes breeding sources. Read the full story Arabic version of the story

10 January 2022

Dr Ahmed Al-Soofi: serving with excellence on the front lines of Yemen’s health crisis

30 December 2021 - It was late in the evening on 7 December 2021 when Dr Ahmed Al-Soofi received an email unlike any other in his 16 years of working with WHO in Yemen. "It was the biggest surprise of my life!" said Dr Ahmed. "At first I didn’t understand it. Then I made two phone calls to my mother and my wife. I told them it would not have been possible without their love and support. I can’t explain how I felt. I was so happy." Read the full story Arabic...

09 January 2022

Health workers in Yemen fight for the lives of COVID-19 patients

28 December 2021 - "Imagine becoming like family for a complete stranger, like everything they have in life and like their lifeline. During my work for the COVID-19 response, we work tirelessly to save the lives of these patients and offer them care and support in their fight against the disease," says Fadhl Ismail, a health worker in the Al Amal isolation centre in Aden since the first COVID-19 wave in March 2020. Read the full story Arabic version fo the story

19 December 2021

After 19 years of waiting, Al-Sadaqah Hospital in Yemen has a new x-ray machine thanks to WHO and World Bank

Aden, 5 December 2021 – With the crisis in Yemen profoundly impacting the country's health system, WHO is strengthening service delivery at hospitals across the country through the World Bank-supported Emergency Health and Nutrition Project (EHNP). One such facility is Al-Sadaqah Hospital in Aden where, after 19 years of relying on an increasingly outdated and underperforming x-ray machine, the hospital staff finally received a new one. Hospitals in Yemen are struggling to meet the increasing demands for essential care, coupled with deteriorating infrastructure, equipment and services. "Since 2002, we had been...

15 December 2021

COVID-19 treatment centres: the first line of defense in saving Yemeni lives

15 December 2021 - Thirty-eight-year-old Wajdi Sweidan, a lab technician at Tarim Hospital, in Hadramout, contracted COVID-19 while he was taking samples from a patient. After recovering, his family tried to convince him to stop working at the centre, but he was determined to help patients get through the “harshest illness” he has ever experienced. Read the full story Arabic version fo the story

14 December 2021

Amid the conflict in Yemen, mass campaigns to end the threat of tropical diseases continue

14 December 2021 –- Schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths are neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), but these parasitic worm infections can lead to anaemia, malnutrition, and learning difficulties among children. Left untreated, schistosomiasis can damage the liver, intestines, bladder, spleen and lungs, while soil-transmitted helminths can cause a range of problems, including slow physical and mental development. Public health authorities have battled for more than a decade to tackle schistosomiasis, supported by partners such as the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) and World Health Organization (WHO). In 2010, one in five residents...

05 December 2021

Essential Health Services Project, supported by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, is a lifeline for millions across Yemen

5 December 2021 – The conflict in Yemen has taken a dreadful toll on the health infrastructure. Almost 7 years of active conflict has impaired the availability and quality of health services to the most vulnerable. Leaving over 20 million civilians in need of health assistance. If that is not enough, the emergence of COVID-19 has exacerbated existing pressure on health facilities and civilians who barely have access to basic health services.  WHO has led the health efforts during such difficult times along with the Health Cluster and local health authorities to...

23 November 2021

22 November 2021, Aden, Yemen - The World Health Organization (WHO) has joined efforts with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group and the Ministry of Public Health and Population to construct 14 new oxygen production stations that will save lives from the COVID-19 pandemic in Yemen. The oxygen production stations, valued at over US$ 3.4 million, are being constructed in 11 southern governorates of Yemen and will be gradually put into operation between December 2021 and February 2022. The oxygen stations will be jointly managed and implemented by the Ministry of...

21 November 2021

Child malnutrition and survival in war-torn Yemen

21 November 2021 - In Yemen today, over 2.25 million children under age 5 are estimated to suffer from acute malnutrition. Fortunately, thousands of these children are being nourished from the brink of death back to health – at 92 WHO-supported therapeutic feeding centers (TFCs) across Yemen.  Read the full story Arabic version fo the story

14 October 2021

Yemen’s fight against malaria: community volunteers make a difference

10 October 2021 - Human malaria is the most common vector-borne disease in Yemen, with approximately 65% of the total population at risk of infection. In response, WHO is supporting volunteer health workers with rapid diagnostic tests, medicines and training needed to detect and treat malaria cases, and to educate communities about malaria prevention.  Read the full sotry Arabic version of the story

03 October 2021

Supporting health workers - the backbone of the COVID-19 response

3 October 2021 – “I have asked to be among the frontline health workers fighting against COVID19. I want to serve humanity and this is the least I can do”. Monther Haider, 30, recalled this stressful conversation with his mother. “She began crying and told me I couldn’t do this, because I wouldn’t be safe, and I could be at risk of contracting COVID-19,” Monther said, then paused to add: “I respected her wishes.” Monther patiently waited for his mother’s permission, and nearly one more year passed. Finally, the day came when he could...

29 September 2021

A fighting chance for children born prematurely in Yemen

29 September 2021 – “Imagine a mother handing over her own child to you and saying, “This is my child, she is sick, please take care of her”, said Najat Saleh, a neonatal health specialist at the Al Sadakah hospital in Aden governorate.  Najat began working at Al Sadakah hospital in 1986, joining its neonatal care department in early 2021. “As a mother, moving into this department I feel like I’m with my own children,” she said. “I try my best to care for them and to be worthy of the trust...

07 September 2021

Supporting Yemen’s COVID-19 frontline responders

7 September 2021 – Thabit Ali is a health care worker at at Al Sadaqqa hospital in Aden, where he has been working for the past 4 years. When the hospital’s isolation unit became operational, Thabit was one of the first to begin working with COVID-19 patients. Much to his family’s concern, he insisted on helping patients in dire need of care. “During the beginning of the pandemic, my family and I were concerned that my work required my close contact with people with COVID-19,” Thabit said. “But I chose to continue...

24 August 2021

Sana'a, 23 August 2021 – The World Health Organization (WHO) country office in Yemen denies what has been reported in some local media concerning the 2020 suspension of the “medical airbridge” project for Yemeni patients. The WHO Yemen country office also wishes to clarify the following points about this project: This project was implemented by WHO in Yemen in 2020 with funding from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The role of WHO-Yemen was limited to supervision, coordination and arrangement of accommodation and treatment for patients and...

05 August 2021

KSrelief partners with WHO to save lives from COVID-19

5 August 2021 – Two months ago, Ali Mothana was battling for his life in a COVID-19 isolation unit in Al Sadakah hospital in Aden after being infected with the COVID-19 virus. “When I was rushed to the hospital, I was suffering from unbearable pain, and my condition was extremely difficult,” recounted Ali, 64. “I thought that it was the end, and that I would not be able to see my grandchildren again.” COVID-19 has exacted a heavy toll on Yemen, a country that also faces the world’s most complex and dire humanitarian...

27 July 2021

Sameh is one of thousands of patients being treated for COVID-19 through WHO and KSrelief support across Yemen

14 July 2021 – In the midst of a humanitarian crisis and a health system debilitated by years of conflict, incessant epidemics and the recent COVID-19 pandemic aggravating the situation further. WHO and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) are working together to fill critical gaps and strengthen preparedness and response to COVID-19 and other public health concerns.  Sameh is a father of 3 children – 2 girls and a boy. He works in Al Sadaqqah hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU). Al Sadaqqah is one of the largest hospitals supported...

18 July 2021

WHO partners with KSrelief to enhance the quality of health care in Yemen

18 July 2021 – Quality of care is the degree to which health services increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with evidence-based professional knowledge. This definition of quality of care spans promotion, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliation, and implies that quality of care can be measured and continuously improved through the provision of evidence-based care that takes into consideration the needs and preferences of service users – patients, families and communities. The Sustainable Development Goals stress that quality is a key element of universal health coverage. Yemen...

22 June 2021

Polio vaccination against the odds in Yemen: dispatches from the frontline of polio eradication

22 June 2021 – In Al-Buraika district, a poor neighbourhood in the port city of Aden in Yemen’s south, Muneera Abdo slowly makes her way through the sandy streets. With a scuffed plastic cool box hanging from a strap on her shoulder, Muneera knocks on the doors of houses often made of little more than discarded strips of tin. Muneera is a polio vaccinator working in some of the most challenging territory on earth. She travels door to door, vaccinating children under 5 and raising awareness about the importance of vaccination...

03 June 2021

Malnourished children of Yemen in the grip of suffering

27 May 2021 – The conflict, economic decline and a poor health environment have been some of the drivers of acute malnutrition in Yemen. The number of children suffering has not decreased. In comparison to 16% in 2020, acute malnutrition and severe acute malnutrition among children under 5 reached 22% in 2021. This has been the highest rate of severe acute malnutrition recorded in Yemen since the escalation of the conflict in 2015.  Rozan is 10 months old from Lahj. Her mother brought her to the therapuetic feeding centre in WHO-supported Ibn...

01 June 2021

1 June 2021 – This year marks the ninth anniversary of World Health Assembly resolution 65.20 (2012) in relation to the protection of health care in complex humanitarian emergencies. With deep regret, we note that violence against health care personnel and attacks on health care continues to be reported, including incidents linked to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic across the world. During the COVID-19 pandemic, more than ever, protecting the health, welfare and lives of health care workers on the frontline is critical to enabling a better response. WHO will continue to expand and...

20 May 2021

COVID-19 posing unprecedented threat on war-torn Yemen

20 May 2021 – While Yemen was bearing the brunt of the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic further aggravated the crippled health infrastructure. The people of Yemen have been living through long-running armed conflict; threatened by looming famine, disease outbreaks, forced displacement and a shattered economy.  As of 30 April 2021, the number of reported cases of COVID-19 in Yemen was 6294 people and 1222 confirmed deaths. However, health partners remain concerned that the number of cases continue to be underreported due to an array of reasons and that the official...

28 April 2021

Government of Italy and WHO supporting urgent services for children suffering from malnutrition in Yemen

27 April 2021 – Nearly 2.3 million children under the age of 5 in Yemen are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2021, 400 000 of whom are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and could die if they do not receive urgent treatment. Three-month-old Naynoor is one of these children. Her mother brought her to a WHO-supported therapeutic feeding centre in Dhamar district; her little body frail and suffering from acute malnutrition. She has been receiving treatment in the centre for 12 days now. “She is feeling much better...

30 March 2021

How WHO and KSrelief helped 7-month-old Samer recover from malnutrition

In Yemen, child malnutrition is of great concern riven by the conflict and its economic impact, including high rates of diarrhoea, respiratory infections, cholera, and rising food insecurity rates. Samer Abdulwadood was born 7 months ago in Salh district, Taizz governorate, where his low-income family temporarily settled up to flee the region's ongoing fighting. Samer's father managed to find a job as a motorcycle transporter, bringing people from one place to another. But he could barely provide a living for the family. Without the daily nutritional intake necessary to maintain him in good...

30 March 2021

WHO and KSrelief provide life-saving emergency nutrition care to children in Yemen

30 March 2021 – Arahaf was only aged 40 days and weighed 1.650 kg when her family, displaced from Taiz due to the ongoing fighting, brought her to Al Sadaqa Hospital in Aden.   "As we couldn't feed her properly, we were advised to bring her here not to lose her," said Arahaf's mother, Yasmin.  Arahaf received specialized treatment in the hospital's therapeutic feeding centre supported by the World Health Organization and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief).  "Arahaf has been getting better thanks to the free treatment and formula milk she's...

15 March 2021

With the support of USAID, WHO and INTERSOS provide urgent medical care in Lahj governorate

15 March 2021 – Driven by years of conflict, the human-made crisis in Yemen has resulted in a near collapse of an already fragile public infrastructure, further exacerbating the population’s humanitarian needs with each year of the conflict.    Health services are not an exception as nearly 17.9 million people needed health care services in 2020, and the situation is not expected to improve in 2021. At the same time, the health system has been devastated, with only half of the health facilities fully or partially functioning and still lacking basic requirements such...

15 March 2021

Emergency Health and Nutrition Project continues the fight against cholera in Yemen

15 March 2021 – Yemen's conflict has resulted in a large-scale public health crisis, with a spiral of epidemic-prone infectious diseases, including the worst cholera outbreak ever recorded, with over 2.5 million suspected cases since October 2016. In 2020, a total of 230 540 suspected cholera cases and 84 associated deaths were reported nationwide. Areas that lack access to clean water and proper sanitation conditions are the worst hit.   WHO and health partners have been supporting health authorities to respond to this ongoing cholera outbreak. The response has included case management, surveillance...

28 February 2021

Emergency response in Yemen: WHO and the Government of Japan's fight against high-threat infectious pathogens

28 February 2021 – The humanitarian emergency in Yemen has forced the health situation into a critical state. The ongoing conflict in several areas of the country has negatively impacted the functioning of health facilities as medical staff have fled the country or became displaced. Since 2015, health workers have not regularly received their salaries.  The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation, further complicating the population's access to health care services at a time when the need for health care is critical.  At the same time, several high-threat infectious pathogens continue to...

14 February 2021

Acute malnutrition threatens half of children under 5 in Yemen in 2021: United Nations

Humanitarian crisis continues to exert a terrible toll on children, warn FAO, UNICEF, WFP and WHO Sana’a/Aden/Rome/New York/Geneva, 12 February 2021 – Nearly 2.3 million children under the age of 5 in Yemen are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2021, 4 United Nations agencies warned today. Of these, 400 000 are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and could die if they do not receive urgent treatment. The new figures, from the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Acute Malnutrition report released today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the...

02 February 2021

With the support of Germany, WHO and INTERSOS provide life-saving medical care to children in Ibb governorate

2 February 2021 – Children are among the most impacted by the ongoing conflict and its consequences on health care services. Thanks to Germany’s support, WHO and INTERSOS have been able to provide them with life-saving medical care. A country hammered by years of conflict, Yemen has been marked as the world's worst humanitarian catastrophe, with nearly 24.3 million people – 80% of the population – in need of humanitarian assistance in 2020. The health system has worsened amid the crisis, and 17.9 million people needed health care services in 2020....

27 January 2021

WHO and KSrelief are working together to support COVID-19 preparedness and response in Yemen

Cairo, 27  January 2021 – The World Health Organization (WHO) and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) have joined forces in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic in Yemen through a new project to support COVID-19 preparedness and response. Under this new award, WHO will work with the Ministry of Public Health and Population to enable rapid detection and response to COVID-19 cases and clusters, including through an integrated, multisectoral coordination system at central and governorate levels and support to emergency operation centres (EOCs) across the country. Twenty-six main...

19 January 2021

Sana'a, 19 January 2021 - The World Health Organization (WHO) office in Yemen denies what has been reported in local media about its intention to stop its support to Yemen's health facilities with the fuel needed to operate them. The office confirms that despite severe funding shortages, the necessary financial resources have been mobilized already to supply all 105 health facilities supported in 2020 with fuel until mid-February at least. Furthermore, 42 health facilities, most of them in the northern governorates of Yemen, will be provided with the needed fuel during...

18 January 2021

WHO and KSrelief continue fight against child malnutrition in Yemen

Cairo, 18 January 2021 – The World Health Organization (WHO) and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) are continuing their joint fight against child malnutrition in Yemen by sustaining essential nutrition services and enhancing access to life-saving interventions for the most vulnerable populations. Funded at US$ 5.5 million, the new partnership aims to treat 23 428 under-5 severely malnourished children with medical complications free of charge in 90 targeted therapeutic feeding centres across Yemen. Admission kits and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) kits will be dispatched to support the care...

05 January 2021

WHO and KSrelief work together to improve water, sanitation and hygiene services in Yemen

Cairo, 5 January 2021- The World Health Organization (WHO) and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) are working together to improve water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in targeted health facilities and water quality monitoring and surveillance in cholera high-risk districts. Through a new US$ 7 million award, a joint project will provide improved access and enhanced provision of water, sanitation and hygiene services to 45 health care facilities all over Yemen which had been identified with the most acute needs by the Health Cluster and the 2020...

21 December 2020

Sana'a, 21 December 2020 - The World Health Organization country office in Yemen denies what has been reported in local Yemeni media about the Organization's refusal to transfer abroad for treatment siamese twins that are currently being treated in a hospital in Sana'a. The office calls on all media to be responsible, credible and accurate when reporting the news.

14 December 2020

A new WHO-KSrelief partnership to support the delivery of essential health services in Yemen

Cairo, 14 December 2020 – The World Health Organization (WHO) and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) have started the implementation of a new project to support the delivery of essential health services in Yemen. Funded at US$ 20.5 million, the project is part of a broader US$ 46 million agreement between the two organizations, signed in September 2020, that also included 3 other projects on COVID-19 preparedness and response, nutrition, and water and environmental sanitation services. Under this new award, the Health Cluster will receive support for information...

12 October 2020

Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and WHO join forces with the Government of Yemen to respond to COVID-19

Jeddah/Geneva, 12 October 2020 – The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have joined forces with Yemen’s Ministries of Health and Population and Planning and International Cooperation to provide emergency support to assist the country respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Built on Yemen’s national strategy to counter COVID-19, the partnership aims to reduce the occurrence and to minimize morbidity and mortality rates of COVID-19 in Yemen by strengthening the operational capacity of 32 specialized COVID-19 treatment centres and the laboratory testing capacity of 2 medical universities in...

05 October 2020

Patients return home to Yemen after medical treatment in Jordan

Sana’a, 4 October 2020 – The World Health Organization (WHO) Representative for Yemen Mr Altaf Musani, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Ms Lise Grande, and UN Special Envoy for Yemen Mr Martin Griffiths welcomed the return today of patients who have been receiving medical care in Jordan for diseases and conditions which cannot be treated in Yemen. “It’s wonderful to see patients coming home after receiving treatment,” said Ms Grande. “These are very special people. They were selected for the first flights of the medical airbridge in February because they were...

20 September 2020

Cancer patients in Yemen face the compounded pain of disease and conflict

20 September 2020 – The pain of cancer patients in Yemen is being compounded by the additional burden of conflict, displacement, widespread poverty and hunger. Jamila, a 40-year-old woman, is currently displaced due to the ongoing conflict. To add insult to injury, she has cancer. “It’s difficult to find medicines nowadays, and the available ones are very costly. Being without income, I cannot afford them”, said Jamila, who has received free of charge cancer medicine provided by a WHO-supported cancer centre. The ongoing conflict in Yemen has turned an already vulnerable country into...

20 September 2020

WHO and KSrelief renew partnership to continue sustaining Yemen’s health system

Cairo/Riyadh, 20 September 2020 – The World Health Organization (WHO) and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) have renewed their partnership to continue sustaining the health system throughout Yemen.  The agreement, funded at US$ 46 million, includes support to essential health services, COVID-19 preparedness and response efforts and nutrition, water and environmental sanitation services across the county.  Thanks to this partnership, WHO will be able to facilitate the provision of a quality minimum service package to 25 hospitals serving 5.1 million beneficiaries. WHO will also work with health authorities and...

14 September 2020

Dengue fever control campaign in Aden

14 September 2020 – A dengue fever control campaign that will cover the 8 districts of Aden city was launched on 13 September by the Ministry of Public Health and Population, with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSRelief).  The 4-day campaign will include indoor and outdoor fogging, community awareness activités, vector surveillance and environmental management of all mosquitoes breeding sources, providing direct protection to 430 000 people and indirectly to the 1.7 million total population of Aden city.   The campaign...

06 September 2020

6 September 2020 – Fourteen cases of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1) have been detected in several districts in Saada governorate, in the north-west of Yemen. The cases – children aged from 8 to 156 months – had onset of paralysis ranging from 31 January to 18 June 2020, with one other case from June 2019 also confirmed retrospectively. The 14 cases are clustered in an area with very low routine immunization levels that has been inaccessible to the polio programme since late 2018 for various reasons, including the restrictions due to...

31 August 2020

Fighting for the rights of renal failure patients in Yemen

31 August 2020 – Over 5 years of hostilities in Yemen have resulted in a massive setback to an already weak health care system and led to a dramatic collapse of health care services provided to the population. More than 17.9 million people out of the total population of 30 million require health care services in 2020, while only half of the health facilities are fully functioning. The dialysis centre also face a severe shortfall of essential supplies such as medication and fuel to run hospital equipment, as well as a...

30 July 2020

WHO and Italy, frontrunners in the fight against malnutrition in Yemen

30 July 2020 – The life of children in Yemen is marked by poverty, hunger and disease. In 2020, 2 million Yemeni children suffer from acute malnutrition, including nearly 320 000 from who suffer severe acute malnutrition, of whom up to 10% may end up with severe medical complications with a 90% chance of death, if not treated.  Ahmed and Qaed, 2-month-old twins from Ibb, suffered from severe acute malnutrition. They were admitted to a WHO-supported therapeutic feeding centre in Sana'a.  "Ahmed and Qaed got sick and could not be appropriately fed,...

29 July 2020

WHO and Japan work together to sustain the mental health care system in Yemen

29 July 2020 – Prolonged war and conflict in Yemen have resulted in psychological burden and trauma of unprecedented magnitude. Hundreds of thousands of people, including children, have been impacted by adverse mental health stressors due to large-scale insecurity, displacement and food insecurity crisis. The collapse of the socioeconomic fabric and state institutions, resulting in a lack of social protection and basic public services, including health care, has compounded the situation of the most vulnerable, including people with existing mental health conditions and psychosocial problems. Already vulnerable Yemenis are faced with COVID-19,...

29 July 2020

WHO and UNICEF confirm that polio vaccines are safe and have not expired

29 July 2020 – A lifesaving vaccination campaign is ongoing in 13 governorates in Yemen. Children are being provided with the polio vaccine and vitamin A micronutrient supplements to help protect them from preventable disease. Strict COVID-19 prevention measures are being practised in the interests of public health. WHO and UNICEF confirm that the vaccines are safe for use. These vaccines have not expired and, as with our vaccine cold chains globally, have been stored safely.

02 July 2020

Yemen, July 2, 2020 – A new US$ 3 million contribution from the Government of Japan will give mental health and psychosocial support a fresh boost of support in health facilities across Yemen. The generous and continuous support of the Government of Japan plays a critical role in supporting WHO’s humanitarian response in Yemen, with donations amounting to more than US$ 11.5 million between 2015 and 2020. Over 5 years of ongoing conflict have taken their toll on the mental health of the Yemeni people. Hundreds of thousands have been impacted...

02 July 2020

Health care workers face a double battle – COVID-19 in a conflict zone

2 July 2020 – Dr Sami Al Hajj is a young doctor working at Science and Technology Hospital in Sana’ where he lives with his pregnant wife. Every day, he puts himself at high risk at his job. “COVID-19 has left Yemen and health care workers on the frontlines under severe pressure. We put our lives at risk to save the lives of our people. I have seen many doctors fall sick and be admitted to be put on ventilators and monitors, or worse, die. This has been the hardest thing...

30 June 2020

Noncommunicable diseases are a silent burden on the people of Yemen

30 June 2020 – Esam is only 16 years old and he battles colon cancer. Esam receives treatment at the national oncology centre in Sana’a governorate, supported by WHO. “I am hopeful. I’m looking forward to a time when I am feeling better so I can lead a normal life like my friends,” he says. Patients who suffer from chronic diseases lead a challenging life. The additional burden of not being able to access or afford treatment is unimaginable. An estimated 35 000 cancer patients (10% of them children) and more than 1...

30 June 2020

WHO and KSrelief join forces to preserve the health system in Yemen

30 June 2020 – Over the past 8 months, WHO and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) have joined forces to ensure access to health care for the vulnerable in remote areas through the provision of a minimum service package. The support has enabled WHO to sustain the health system at primary and secondary levels, by allowing 293 facilities to remain functional and provide health access to 4.3 million people. This support has also allowed WHO to prioritize the procurement and delivery of lifesaving medicines, including treatment for...

20 June 2020

In Yemen, ‘hero’ epidemiologist succumbs to COVID-19

By: Sadeq Al-Wesabi 20 June 2020 – Years after his retirement, Dr Yassin Abdul-Warith's passion for fighting epidemics across Yemen never waned nor did he rest until he died from one of the diseases he fought: COVID-19. One of the oldest and most well-known epidemiologists in Yemen, Dr Yassin had been working for around 50 years fighting different epidemics in the country, including Rift Valley fever, diphtheria, malaria, cholera and lately COVID-19. Health officials looked to Dr Yassin as a key source of scientific and historic knowledge on outbreaks and epidemiological surveillance in...

18 June 2020

Public and private sectors join forces to deliver lifesaving COVID-19 supplies in Yemen

Click here to view the multimedia assets 19 June 2020, Aden and Sana’a, Yemen — Aircraft carrying a total of 43 tons of laboratory supplies, ventilators, test kits, PCR machines and vital PPE to fight COVID-19 have arrived in Yemen, thanks to a donation to the World Health Organization (WHO) facilitated by the Hayel Saeed Anam Foundation on behalf of the International Initiative on COVID-19 in Yemen (IICY), a collaborative partnership of multinational companies and the United Nations. “This donation comes at a critical time. It will have a massive and immediate...

15 June 2020

Health care workers in the frontlines of the struggle against COVID-19

15 June 2020 – “I wished desperately that COVID-19 wouldn’t reach Yemen, as we are already suffering from cholera, diphtheria, dengue, malaria and malnutrition compounded with the ongoing conflict that has wrecked the already appalling health system,” said Khaled Mohammed, a laboratory technician in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) COVID-19 department in the Central Laboratory in Sana’a.  Yemen is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and it is now facing another major threat to health security — COVID-19. If countries with well developed health systems are struggling to contain the virus, the...

02 June 2020

2 June 2020 – A recent press statement issued by local health authorities in Sana'a over the weekend made mention of the "ineffectiveness and inefficiency" of solutions and swabs that are part of the COVID-19 PCR testing kits provided to Yemen. The statement further went on to say that as a result of this, false positive results were generated when "non-human and unexpected samples" were tested, the findings of which would be revealed by local health authorities in a press conference in the coming days. As a matter of clarification, the...

27 May 2020

Health care workers, a fragile health system and the looming spectre of COVID-19 in Yemen

27 May 2020 – “I can only spend half an hour with my 7 children each day before I leave to work in the morning, since my workday doesn’t end until 3:00 a.m.,” says Dr Ali Abdulla, laboratory specialist and health director at the National Center of Public Health Laboratories in Sana’a. Since the beginning of the pandemic in Yemen, Dr Ali has been working non-stop in the laboratory despite the fact that he has not been paid in months. On 10 April 2020, the Ministry of Public Health and Population...

14 May 2020

WHO is working with authorities to scale up COVID-19 response in Yemen The World Health Organization (WHO) in Yemen has not shut down or suspended its operations as alleged in some sections of the media. It temporarily paused the movement of staff on the evening of 9 May 2020 in northern areas after receiving credible security threats. After a review of the situation on 10 May, this pause was lifted and did not impact WHO operations. With existing resources and efforts to mobilize additional funds, WHO has taken decisive steps and moved...

13 May 2020

Conflict-ridden Yemen faces unprecedented risk as COVID-19 starts to spread

13 May 2020 — Existing vulnerabilities, an already fragile health system and limited availability of medical supplies makes the risk COVID-19 poses to public health in Yemen unique, and mitigating the pandemic's effects all the more critical. With 24 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and millions surviving on emergency food aid, the magnitude of chronic malnutrition in the Yemeni population has become precarious, immune systems against infectious disease are lowered while levels of vulnerability heightened. While dealing with the pandemic, the already devastated health system in Yemen continues to...

10 May 2020

WHO, IOM raise concern over COVID-19 discrimination against migrants in Yemen

Cairo, 10 May 2020 – COVID-19’s presence in Yemen was officially confirmed on 10 April. Nearly a month later, Sana’a city’s first case was announced, that of a Somali refugee. Migrants in the country are being stigmatized as “transmitters of disease”. Xenophobia and scapegoating campaigns are leading to retaliation against these vulnerable communities, including physical and verbal harassment, forced quarantine, denial of access to health services, movement restrictions, and forced movements to frontline and desert areas, leaving them stranded without food, water and essential services. The World Health Organization (WHO) and...

03 May 2020

Statement by WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean on COVID-19 in Yemen

Collective action and commitment is the only way to mitigate the pandemic 2 May 2020 - To date, there are seven confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the south of Yemen, including two deaths, as declared by national authorities. No other cases have been officially reported to WHO, although we anticipate the virus is actively circulating throughout the country. Best practices have shown that when people are informed and warned about outbreaks early on, and where measures are in place to test, trace, isolate and care for cases, transmission of the virus can...

27 April 2020

WHO, in partnership with UNFPA, ensures availability and access to lifesaving reproductive health services in Yemen

27 April 2020 – Yemen was struggling with a poor reproductive health system even before the situation was worsened by the war which pushed millions of people into further vulnerability and the health system into near collapse. In 2020, 3.75 million women and girls of reproductive age and 600 000 who would become pregnant or deliver are at risk of mortality and morbidity. The health system is functioning at half capacity, with only one third of functioning health facilities providing reproductive health services due to staff shortages, lack of supplies,...

19 April 2020

Thalassemia patients supported by the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project

19 April 2020 – Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder. Specialized care across the lifespan of a thalassemia patient can help them lead a normal and healthy life. Thalassemia is a treatable disorder that can be well managed with blood transfusions and chelation drugs. Patients suffering from thalassemia and blood disorders are benefiting from services provided by the national blood and transfusion centres supported by the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project. In 2019, WHO in partnership with the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), under the framework of the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project supported...

11 April 2020

10 April 2020, Yemen – Today, the Ministry of Public Health and Population in Aden announced the first laboratory confirmed case of coronavirus in Yemen. The individual who has tested positive has been isolated and is being treated in a local hospital where he is currently in a stable condition. Specially trained rapid response teams are tracing, and where appropriate, isolating everyone who has come into contact with him. “For weeks we have feared this, and now it’s happened. COVID-19 is in Yemen,” said Lise Grande, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen. “After...

06 April 2020

Yemen, April 6, 2020 – The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) announced critical support to WHO — providing US$ 26.9 million towards Yemen’s preparedness and response scale-up to COVID-19 under a new World Bank-funded Yemen COVID-19 project. “Yemen’s health system is already fragile, and an outbreak of COVID-19 would be catastrophic — overwhelming hospitals, health facilities and health care workers,” said Altaf Musani, WHO Representative in Yemen.  Globally and as of the moment, COVID-19 affects 208 countries, resulting in a case load of over 1 133 700, including almost 62 784...

30 March 2020

Government of Japan and WHO strengthen emergency response to meet the needs of the most vulnerable in Yemen

30 March 2020 – It is the continuous support and contributions of partners like the Government of Japan that allow the World Health Organization (WHO) to serve the people of Yemen in the best way possible. The generous funding from the Government of Japan ensures that more than 7 million Yemenis will have increased access to essential health care, and at the same time, ensure urgent treatment is given to patients suffering from communicable diseases. Another priority addressed through these funds is infectious disease prevention and control by building capacity of national...

05 March 2020

King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre supports WHO with US$ 10.5 million for malaria prevention and control in Yemen

5 March 2020 –The World Health Organization (WHO) and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) have signed a joint cooperation agreement for US$ 10.5 million further bolstering malaria prevention and control efforts across Yemen. The agreement was signed during the recent humanitarian conference in Riyadh, this is the second time the conference convened dignitaries from all over the world to discuss humanitarian response support and the development nexus. Today, Yemen accounts for 17% of the regional malaria burden. In the war-torn country, a total of 18.2 million people...

03 March 2020

WHO supports patients in Yemen with lifesaving dialysis treatment

3 March 2020 – After 5 years of taking care of patients, Radeah found herself on the other side of the fence, suffering from renal failure. Since her diagnosis three years ago, she has had to quit her work as a nurse. She now comes to hospital not to treat patients, but rather receive treatment for her illness—with dialysis sessions twice weekly.  “I have lost 3 of my friends to renal failure and I don’t want to be next, this is why I am grateful for these sessions. When I was...

27 February 2020

WHO continues efforts in the fight against cholera

27 February 2020 – In a health centre called the 26th September, 50-year-old Mariam fought for her life as cholera and heart disease ravaged her body. Mariam was rushed to the health centre after suffering from severe watery diarrhoea, dehydration and hypertension. “She was shaking uncontrollably, and I was terrified to lose her especially as she also suffers from heart disease,” said Waheed, Mariam’s young son. Two days have passed since Mariam was hospitalized, now she is receiving treatment for cholera. “I had suspicions that my mother had cholera. I was infected with...

23 February 2020

The Emergency Health and Nutrition Project supports early breast cancer detection

23 February 2020 – Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women worldwide, impacting 2.1 million women each year, causing the greatest number of cancer-related deaths among women. In 2018, WHO estimated that 627 000 women died from breast cancer – approximately 15% of all cancer deaths among women. While breast cancer rates are higher among women in more developed regions, rates are increasing in nearly every region globally.   In Yemen, a country in conflict and economic freefall, breast cancer accounts for a quarter of diagnosed female...

09 February 2020

Journey to recovery: Yemeni patients get new lease on life in Jordan

9 February 2020 – A plane carrying Yemeni civilians who need medical treatment abroad landed in Jordan yesterday. The flight is the second to arrive this week as part of the United Nations/WHO medical airbridge operation. “These are some of the first civilians to leave the country since the start of the crisis, signaling a new era of hope for Yemen and all Yemenis,” said Altaf Musani, WHO Representative in Yemen.  Earlier this week, 6 children were the first patients to be flown out of Yemen as part of the medical airbridge operation. Several...

03 February 2020

Joint statement by UN Special Envoy for Yemen, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen and World Health Organization in Yemen on UN medical air bridge flights

3 February 2020, Sana’a/Amman — The UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Lise Grande and the World Health Organization Representative for Yemen, Altaf Musani, welcomed today the launch of the medical air bridge operation that brought the first group of Yemeni patients in need of specialized medical assistance from Yemen to Jordan. Today was the maiden voyage of the medical air bridge operation that brought a number of patients out of an initial group of 30 along with their respective travel companions from Sanaa...

29 December 2019

Emergency Health and Nutrition Project reduces infection in Yemen

29 December 2019 – Based on data gathered by WHO from a number of countries, it can be estimated that each year, hundreds of millions of patients around the world are affected by health care-associated infections (HAI). The burden of HAI is several fold higher in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income ones.  In a country torn apart by war, Yemeni people seeking medical support struggle to receive proper and effective medical treatment. Most of the hospital’s medical equipment requires replacement like the sterile supply department of Al-Thawra hospital. The...

18 December 2019

Seasonal influenza in Yemen

18 December 2019, Yemen – WHO has confirmed that there are no signs of unusually high rates of influenza in Yemen. Infection rates are typically higher between October and March, in Yemen as in other countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, but they have not risen beyond the normal seasonal pattern in 2019. Seasonal influenza is an acute respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses which circulate in all parts of the world. Symptoms include a sudden onset of fever, cough, headache, muscle and joint pain, severe malaise (feeling unwell), sore throat...

17 November 2019

Dengue and malaria update

Updated: 18 November 2019, Yemen – Over 4 years of conflict in Yemen have resulted in the displacement of over 2 million people, destroyed infrastructure and taken systems to the brink of collapse. Yemen, like the majority of countries in conflict, has sustained massive damage to its infrastructure. The successive onslaught of heavy rains, resulting in flash floods and inadequate drainage have turned harmless puddles into active mosquito breeding sites. These larvae are given space and time to turn into adult mosquitos who then infect people. “Containing these diseases has been...

13 November 2019

WHO remains vigilant in the detection, prevention and control of communicable diseases in Yemen

13 November 2019 – In a non-permissive environment replete with operational and security challenges, the expansion of the national electronic disease early warning system (eDEWS) in Yemen to identify and quickly control infectious disease outbreaks is nothing short of a miracle. Even in the middle of active conflict, WHO, through its Emergency Health and Nutrition Project (EHNP) partnership the World Bank, successfully revamped and expanded Yemen’s existing eDEWs system, transitioning it from a paper-based system into a centralized, electronic reporting system. New sentinel sites are added each year to cover more areas...

06 November 2019

ECHO and WHO partnership meets critical trauma needs in Yemen

6 November 2019 – The conflict in Yemen continues to intensify, sparking multiple frontlines across the country. Since 2015, an estimated 70 000 men, women and children have either lost their lives or suffered serious injuries as a result of the conflict. These injuries threaten to debilitate thousands physically and financially — especially those who do not have immediate access to trauma care.  The injection of 5 million euros from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) is dedicated to supporting trauma care, emergency medical services and surgical mobile...

23 October 2019

Thalassaemia patients have renewed hope through support provided by the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project

5 November 2019, Yemen – The World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, through the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project (EHNP), are providing life-saving support to thalassemia patients in Yemen. In 2019, blood bags provided reached almost 45 000 bag, along with laboratory reagents critical to ensuring safe blood transfusions further strengthening the capacity at the blood transfusion centres across the country. Globally, over 50 000 people are born each year with a severe form of thalassemia – a blood disorder causing the body to make an abnormal or inadequate amount...

03 October 2019

3 October 2019 – WHO and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) are working together to fight malnutrition in Yemen. This valued partner has generously donated critical funding in the amount of EUR 2 million in support of the nutrition response in Yemen. This  is a testament to the Government of Italy’s sustained commitment to the people of Yemen. This new funding is a symbol of the continuing partnership between AICS, WHO, and the Government of Italy, which started in 2018. People on the brink of starvation Almost 20 million...

03 October 2019

3 October 2019 – As Yemen approaches more than 4 years of war, an estimated 20 million people are in need of access to healthcare. Through the generous support of the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), WHO has been able to meet health needs in the midst of this evolving conflict. Strategic partnerships save lives “In Yemen, the operative word is “survival” -- not only are we meeting the immediate and urgent health needs of the people, we are also protecting the health system from collapse—and we cannot...

03 October 2019

3 October 2019 – As Yemen approaches more than 4 years of war, an estimated 20 million people are in need of access to healthcare. Through the generous support of the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), WHO has been able to meet health needs in the midst of this evolving conflict. Strategic partnerships save lives “In Yemen, the operative word is “survival” -- not only are we meeting the immediate and urgent health needs of the people, we are also protecting the health system from collapse—and we cannot...

03 October 2019

WHO and Kuwait: Protecting Yemen’s “Right to Health”

3 October 2019 –  Thanks to the generous support of the Government of Kuwait, in terms of continued funding, based on a long-standing partnership—in the amount of US$ 23 million, this flexible funding is currently allowing WHO to meet the most urgent needs of the people of Yemen even as the situation evolves on a daily basis—impacting response operations frequently. Almost 20 million people lack access to adequate healthcare, and 17.8 million people lack access to safe water and sanitation—a large contributor to the world’s largest, most explosive, cholera outbreak...

21 August 2019

Second round of oral cholera vaccine reaches nearly 400 000 people in Aden, Taiz and Al Dhale’e

Sana’a, 21 August 2019 — A 6-day oral cholera vaccination campaign reached almost 400 000 people, including almost 65 000 children under the age of 5 in Aden, Al Dhale’e and Taiz, where high numbers of suspected cholera and acute watery diarrhoea cases have been recorded. The first few months of 2019 saw an increase of reported acute watery diarrhoea cases in over 95% of districts across Yemen. Between January and the end of July 2019, there have been nearly 536 000 suspected cases and 773 associated deaths. Children under 5...

19 August 2019

#womenhumanitarians: celebrating World Humanitarian Day in Yemen

Laura Lloyd Braff I have been involved in emergency response work for the WHO since 2013, and have been stationed in Yemen since 2017.  In Yemen, I work as a Project Management Officer on the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project (EHNP), which, in partnership with the World Bank and UNICEF, supports the provision of Health and Nutrition Services in health facilities, while simultaneously protecting the health system in Yemen from collapse so future generations can benefit from it. My day-to-day work in Yemen involves general follow-up of our activities as a...

02 July 2019

WHO supports emergency medical care in Al Thawra Hospital, Sana’a, Yemen

To support the functionality of Al Thawra Hospital’s emergency sections, WHO has installed an oxygen station in the facility, and equipped the intensive care unit with medical equipment.  2 July 2019, Sana’a, Yemen – Mohammed Abdullah, 13, sits in the intensive care unit of Al Thawra Hospital, the biggest referral hospital in Yemen’s capital Sana’a. “He was feeling well a few days ago, but all of a sudden, he felt pain in his chest and back and started vomiting vigorously,” says his mother. Mohamed was rushed to a private hospital near his...

27 May 2019

27 May 2019, Aden/Sana’a — The World Health Organization (WHO) expressed its gratitude to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates for a grant of US$ 20 million, which will support ongoing efforts to stop the spread of cholera in Yemen. “This support is crucial for stopping cholera transmission in the most affected communities, and to build the capacity to rapidly detect and respond to future outbreaks,” said Altaf Musani, WHO Representative in Yemen. Yemen has been grappling with cholera outbreaks since the end of 2016, with the ongoing crisis in the country...

25 April 2019

Government of Japan support to WHO response in Yemen

24 April 2019 – Contributions from the Government of Japan have been crucial to WHO’s health response in Yemen. Between 2016 and 2019, the Government of Japan generously supported WHO’s humanitarian response with over US$ 11 million, allowing WHO to reach over 824 000 people with essential healthcare services and ensure the continuation of life-saving programmes.   In 2019, donations from Japan will continue to allow WHO to scale up its capacity-building actives for national health care personnel. These activities will target thousands of health professionals across the country, building on their capacity to deliver pre-hospital care. “Health...

27 March 2019

Two years since world's largest outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea and cholera, Yemen witnessing another sharp increase in reported cases with number of deaths continuing to increase

From Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF Regional Director in the Middle East and North Africa and Dr Ahmed Al Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Muscat/Amman/Cairo, 26 March 2019 – “In Yemen, since the beginning of the year until 17 March, nearly 109 000 cases of severe acute watery diarrhoea and suspected cholera were reported with 190 total associated deaths since January. Nearly one third of the reported cases are children under the age of 5. This comes 2 years since Yemen witnessed the world's largest outbreak when more than 1 million cases...

23 March 2019

23 March 2019 - I have just returned from Yemen, where I witnessed firsthand the suffering, illness and death of innocent civilians caught up in this crisis. In my visits to hospitals in Aden and Sana’a, I saw newborn babies and children, sometimes 2-3 to a bed, suffering from severe acute malnutrition, heart and renal failure, pneumonia and other life-threatening conditions. Doctors told me that some would not survive the week. I met weak and frail kidney failure patients who receive dialysis sessions only once week, instead of the standard three, due...

19 February 2019

The Minimum Service Package – a lifeline for the vulnerable in remote areas

19 February 2019 – With a health system on the brink of collapse, and ongoing conflict causing one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world, the health needs in Yemen are massive. The Minimum Service Package (MSP) is a health delivery mechanism aimed at strengthening the access and availability of health care services therefore strengthening the health system in Yemen. Through the framework of the MSP, WHO in cooperation with health authorities and partners, is able to support the provision of primary health care services at the district level in...

14 February 2019

Despite civil unrest, almost half a million Yemenis treated for onchocerciasis

12 February 2019 | Geneva | Cairo | Sanaʽa – Defying logistical challenges and despite ongoing civil unrest and instability, health-care workers in Yemen have been able to distribute medicines through large-scale treatment of people at risk of onchocerciasis in 33 districts of the country’s 8 governorates [1]. The 3-day campaign on 28–31 January 2019 was led by Yemen’s Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization’s country office, with support of the Expanded Special Project for Neglected Tropical Disease (ESPEN) and the World Bank through the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project...

04 February 2019

Cancer patients face ‘death sentence’ in Yemen

4 February 2019 – “Mum, it hurts very much.” With tears in her eyes, 4-year-old Layan describes to her mother how she feels about the cannula that has been in her hand for days. Layan was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma – a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system – in March 2018. “When we admitted Layan to hospital, there were no empty beds and we had to wait for days until she was finally able to receive treatment. My heart aches and no words can describe how I feel...

24 January 2019

Providing urgent health care to millions: WHO and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation work together to reach the most vulnerable

24 January 2019, Sana’a, Yemen — With a generous donation of 2 million euros from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, the World Health Organization (WHO) is scaling up efforts to meet health needs in Yemen through the health service delivery mechanism known as the Minimum Service Package. This is the first time since the start of the crisis in Yemen that WHO has partnered with the Agency. This critical support will allow WHO to reach more than 600 000 of the most vulnerable people in need of essential health services...

27 December 2018

Cholera and malnutrition in Yemen threatens millions

27 December 2018 ─ Al Sabeen Hospital in Sana’a has admitted many cholera patients over the last 2 years, including infants as young as 2 months. Many of them also suffer from acute malnutrition. At the peak of the cholera outbreak more than 150 patients a day were being admitted to Al Sabeen hospital with severe watery diarrhoea. Some 20% of the total were diagnosed with cholera. Two-and-a-half-year-old Ramez and eight-month-old Mohamed are brothers. Small and frail, they have been diagnosed with cholera and are moderately malnourished. Their family moved from Hajjah...

17 December 2018

WHO enhances access to basic health care in Yemen

17 December 2018 – Afaf, 7, has come to Aslam district to Al Jumhouri Hospital in Hajjah governorate, Yemen, a journey of more than a 100 km over difficult roads, to receive treatment for severe acute malnutrition and other problems. “When we have money to seek medical care we take her to the hospital, but when we don’t she must stay at home until she recovers on her own,” said Um Afaf. In the same hospital is Nabila Yahya. She has come from Al Shaghadira District with her six-week old daughter Amira. “My...

20 November 2018

Leukaemia patients in Yemen suffer in silence amid war

20 November 2018 – Millions are living through the worst humanitarian crises in the world. In a world where basic infrastructure and services are a presumed part of daily life, Yemeni citizens struggle to meet simple needs of access to clean water, sanitation, food and primary health care. The energy formerly spent on development and capacity-building is being wasted on struggling to stay alive and healthy. Almost four years of war has pushed an already weak health system to near ruin. People with chronic illnesses are struggling more than ever before...

07 November 2018

WHO supports district health facilities in Yemen to respond to basic health needs

7 November 2018 – More than 3 and a half years of war and conflict in Yemen have resulted in widespread devastation and the silent suffering of millions of people. With half of all health facilities closed, access to basic services is limited for Yemenis, resulting in an extremely deteriorated health situation across the country. Vulnerable communities are forced to travel long distances in order to access basic health care. Due to the precarious economic situation as a result of the conflict, the sick have no choice but to stay at...

03 October 2018

Internally displaced persons from Hudaydah endure harsh circumstances in Sana'a

Dissipated sense of security With the recent escalation of conflict in the port town of Al-Hudaydah, thousands of people were forced to flee to the capital city Sana’a to escape the insecurity and increasing poverty, malnutrition and disease outbreaks. These displaced people include Yemen’s most vulnerable: the elderly, pregnant women, people who carry the burden of chronic illnesses, and caregivers who bear the responsibility of providing for their children. Abu Bakr school in Sana’a serves as a transit facility for many displaced families from Al-Hudaydah who have nowhere else to go. Through...

23 February 2017

Yemeni health system crumbles as millions risk malnutrition and diseases

23 February 2017, Al-Hudaydah, Yemen - “Hospital staff have not received their salaries for the past 5 months. There are acute shortages of certain medicines and we need more fuel to ensure the hospital has electricity,” says Dr Khaled Suhail, Director of Al-Tharwa Hospital in Yemen’s third largest city, Al-Hudaydah. With more than 1200 employees and 320 beds, Al-Thawra Hospital is the main functioning health facility in Al-Hudaydah and neighbouring governorates. Every day, around 1500 people seek care at the hospital, a 5-fold increase since 2012 due to the influx of people...