Anas is 9 years old and is suffering from thalassaemia. Anas is one of the patients being protected under the framework of 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 of haemoglobin. The disorder results in large numbers of red blood cells being destroyed, which leads to anaemia. An estimated 80% of these cases occur in developing countries. In Yemen 700 new cases of thalassemia are diagnosed yearly, and 50 000 cases are on record so far according to association of thalassemia. 

In Yemen, a country ravaged by war, the treatment of thalassemia is a rare but much needed miracle. This is why the support provided is essential. With regular blood transfusions needed by these patients, safe blood saves lives and improves health. 

“The centre receives 60–70 patients suffering from of thalassemia and anemia every day. Once a case is examined, the patient is referred to the blood transfusion centre to receive a blood transfusion,” said Muktar Alkubati, manager of the Yemeni association for Thalassemia patients and genetic blood in Yemen. 

Due to shortages in blood supplies, centres such as this one struggle to meet the demands for blood transfusions. The first victims to suffer were – and still are – vulnerable children with blood disorders, with many facing the prospect of death at an early age.

“Some children died and some did not; these diseases can cause very visible deformations. Adequate and immediate blood transfusions could have saved those children’s lives,” Dr Alkubati added.

Anas, a bright, 9-year-old boy in the third grade, is living with thalassemia and has benefited from the provision of support through the EHNP.  He receives a blood bag every 3 weeks, and because of this, he is healthier and able to live life with a smile on his face.

About the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project (EHNP)

WHO with its technical partner the World Bank, under the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project (EHNP) are meeting health needs in Yemen. The EHNP is a cross-cutting response framework designed specifically to provide basic health and nutrition services to meet acute health needs, supporting the national system in the midst of war.

EHNP supports 72 hospitals across Yemen with a suite of essential life-saving health services, through the health service delivery mechanism known as the Minimum Service Package (MSP). WHO and the World Bank are also working with UNICEF to strengthen the referral system from the primary, secondary, to the tertiary levels of care. In addition, EHNP is supporting public health programmes and disease response to outbreaks such as cholera and diphtheria to name a few.

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 that has sickened over 1 million men, women and children.

Vaccine preventable diseases, poor sanitation and diseases, including cholera, measles, dengue, and diphtheria outbreaks left millions of people ill last year. Yemen’s health system is on the brink of collapse and is at-risk of famine. It is unique from other food insecure contexts due to the sheer scale of those at-risk—an estimated 20 million people, who are facing pre-famine conditions are on the verge of starvation.

“Almost five years of war has left the country in ruins and its health system extremely fragile. There are currently 32 active front lines across 10 of the 22 governorates in Yemen. In the midst of this conflict, the Yemeni people’s “right to health” hangs in the balance, said Altaf Musani, WHO Representative in Yemen.

Kuwait—by Yemen’s side

The Government of Kuwait has supported multiple UN agencies, including the WHO—going above and beyond the remit of support to just humanitarian response operations. Over the years, even prior to the conflict, Kuwait has been by the side of the Yemeni people—building hospitals, universities and secondary schools in the country.

“The Kuwaiti people and government are committed to continuing their longstanding support to the Yemeni people.  Kuwait is working along both political and humanitarian paths to resolve the Yemeni crisis’’. Said Ambassador Jamal Al Gunaim, The Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva.

The friendship and partnership between Kuwait and Yemen is several years old, and the support of the Government of Kuwait has been meeting the needs of the people of Yemen for decades.

“WHO’s partnership with the Government of Kuwait has been life-saving, due to the flexibility of these funds. Funding flexibility allows our response to be more targeted and agile—as we concentrate on areas and communities that are most vulnerable,” said Altaf Musani , WHO Representative in Yemen.

WHO continues to scale up health activities and with the support of Kuwait, conducted multiple rounds of vector control campaigns to fight dengue, supported 60 medical teams, including 10 emergency medical mobile teams and 21 surgical teams stationed near active frontlines, provided anti-cancer drugs to 12 oncology centers, and provided 21 dialysis centres with renal sessions across Yemen.

This and other donor contributions are the only lifeline for the people of Yemen. Without it, WHO would have to shut down operations, which means millions will be without food, shelter, water, and access to health care. The time to act is now—and we have already run out of time.

Note to editors

The 2019 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP) requires US$4.2 billion to assist more than 20 million Yemenis including 10 million people who rely entirely on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs every month. As of today, the YHRP is 56% funded, we need to close this gap. At the High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen convened by the UN Secretary-General in February 2019, the United Nations and humanitarian partners were promised USD$ 2.6 billion to meet the urgent needs. Humanitarian agencies are appealing to donors to provide funds as quickly as possible.

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 do it alone. Thanks to OFDA and other partners—we don’t have to.” said Altaf Musani, WHO Representative in Yemen.

Support from OFDA, one of the largest donors to the health and nutrition response in Yemen has enabled WHO to meet nutrition needs and increase health care access through the health service delivery mechanism known as the Minimum Service Package (MSP). The combined lines of efforts in these two major response areas aims to reach millions.

Yemen is a population on the brink of starvation, and an estimated 20 million Yemenis are food insecure—the most vulnerable of these are children. Through critical funding from OFDA in the amount of US$ 27 million, WHO will be able to sustain 60 feeding centres—increasing lives saved in the upwards of an estimated 15,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) with medical complications.

These children are the sickest of the sick, and since the country is on the brink of famine, there are plans to add 30 more feeding centers to reach more children, with OFDA paving the way forward.

Overcoming challenges, strengthening nutrition response capacity

This the world’s most challenging operational environment. Mounting a sustained and effective response to critical health needs is next to impossible when done alone, but thanks to OFDA and its partnership with the WHO, national NGOs and international NGOs have been pulled in and expanded. And, the consolidation of their efforts has saved children from malnutrition and worse yet—death. 

“Yemen is an “all-risk” environment. Day in and day out we face challenges no other mission faces. This is still the world’s largest humanitarian crisis that is politically complex and operationally challenging. Yemen cannot wait and we will not allow innocent Yemenis to die unnecessarily, said Altaf Musani, WHO Representative in Yemen.

This has been a long and valued partnership, for which WHO is grateful. This funding will allow WHO to deliver health services and increase access to it, scale up cholera preparedness efforts in close coordination with the Health Cluster partners.

Note to editors

The 2019 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP) requires US$4.2 billion to assist more than 20 million Yemenis including 10 million people who rely entirely on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs every month. As of today, the YHRP is 56% funded, we need to close this gap. At the High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen convened by the UN Secretary-General in February 2019, the United Nations and humanitarian partners were promised USD$ 2.6 billion to meet the urgent needs. Humanitarian agencies are appealing to donors to provide funds as quickly as possible.