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 that Jihad had to be transferred to Al-Jumhori Public Hospital therapeutic feeding centre in Hajjah urgently to save her life. However, her father had no money to pay the transportation cost.

Fortunately, the health center director was about to travel to Hajjah by car and offered them a ride. Jihad’s father was grateful but still concerned: “We are happy to finally be able to bring our child to the hospital, but I am worried about the expenses of the treatment which I am unable to afford.” He soon learned that his child would be provided with the full treatment without payment.

Jihad was in critical condition when she first came into the therapeutic feeding centre, but slowly and surely her health started to improve. After 14 days of treatment and monitoring, Jihad was ready to leave the hospital with a big smile on her face and that of her parents. “I am very thankful that my daughter has a new chance at life and a new beginning,” Jihad’s mother said.

Baby Jihad after starting treatment (left) and two weeks later when she recovered and was ready to return home (right)

Note: WHO through the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project (EHNP) and its successor the Emergency Human Capital Project (EHCP), both funded by the World Bank, supports 109 therapeutic feeding centres across Yemen, including the one at Al-Jumhori Public Hospital 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 the hospital hoping it wasn’t too late for my daughter.”

Bushra arrived at the therapeutic feeding center in a critical condition. The medical team immediately took her to the emergency management unit to stabilize her in line with the WHO protocol.

Dr Adel al-Abdeli, a paediatric specialist, was responsible for Bushra’s emergency care and assessment on his daily rounds. After four days of close monitoring and treatment, Bushra’s condition improved significantly. After recovery, she was referred to the outpatient clinic to continue her nutritional treatment and monitor her weight towards making a full recovery.

Bushra when she arrived at the Al-Jumhori Public Hospital therapeutic feeding center in Hajjah being assessed by Dr Adel al-Abdeli, a paediatric specialist

Bushra’s mother was overjoyed by her daughter’s progress, and at the same time was able to benefit from educational sessions on personal hygiene and appropriate feeding practices for infants and young children.

Note: WHO through the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project (EHNP) and its successor the Emergency Human Capital Project (EHCP), both funded by the World Bank, supports 109 therapeutic feeding centres across Yemen, including the one at Al-Jumhori Public Hospital in Hajjah.

The training demonstrated to health workers how to correctly put on and remove personal protective equipment

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 Yemen COVID-19 Response Project, 87 training sessions have been held, targeting 3055 health care workers in 37 isolation units, supported by the Project across 14 governorates in Yemen.

The training aimed to enhance the knowledge of health workers and strengthen the implementation of protocols for infection prevention and control to provide a safe environment for health workers and patients. 

Hand hygiene practices were demonstrated to participants

Dr Hashim Abdullah Al Barawi, an intensive care nurse at Dhamar General Hospital, who participated in the training said, “The training was excellent. We used to misunderstand the safe usage of some of the medical equipment. The training cleared this confusion for us.” His colleague, Dr Faizah Al Riashi, Obstetric Emergency Supervisor, added “We do have backgrounds in some of the issues addressed through the training but practical demonstration was lacking which this training covered.”  

They also expressed a desire that such capacity-building activities would take place for as many health workers as possible in Yemen to improve their performance and keep them up to date on safe infection prevention and control practices. 

Note: The Yemen COVID-19 Response Project was launched in 2020 to detect and respond to the threat posed by COVID-19 and prevent the virus from spreading among the population of Yemen, through funding, supporting and strengthening the national health system in the country.

Related link

WHO health care-associated infections fact sheet