12 February 2026, Aden, Yemen – The World Health Organization (WHO) is appealing for US$ 38.8 million to deliver life-saving emergency health assistance to 10.5 million people across Yemen in 2026, as the country enters another year of protracted conflict, disease outbreaks, climate shocks and deepening humanitarian needs.

An infant inside an incubator. Photo credit: WHO Yemen/Nesma Khan

After more than a decade of crisis, Yemen continues to face one of the world’s most complex health emergencies. An estimated 23.1 million people require humanitarian assistance, while only around 60% of health facilities remain fully functional, leaving millions without reliable access to essential care.

“Yemen’s health system is stretched to its limits,” said Dr Syed Jaffar Hussain, WHO Representative and Head of Mission in Yemen. “Without sustained and timely funding, preventable diseases will spread unchecked, health facilities will be forced to scale down services, and the most vulnerable communities will pay the highest price.”

Yemen continues to experience multiple, concurrent disease outbreaks, including cholera, measles, dengue fever and polio, driven by low immunization coverage, unsafe water and sanitation, population displacement and limited access to care. Climate-related shocks, including floods and extreme weather, are intensifying transmission risks and damaging already fragile health infrastructure.

At the same time, acute malnutrition remains a major public health threat. Millions of children are affected, with hundreds of thousands facing severe acute malnutrition requiring urgent medical treatment. Without access to timely health and nutrition services, children remain highly vulnerable to preventable and life-threatening infections.

In 2026, under the Humanitarian Reset, WHO’s response in Yemen will prioritize life-saving and time-critical interventions in areas with the highest needs. Through its leadership of the Health Cluster, WHO will continue to strengthen disease surveillance and rapid response, ensure access to essential medicines and supplies, deploy mobile and surgical teams, support immunization campaigns, and build national capacity to sustain essential health services.

“Every delay in funding translates into lost opportunities to save lives,” Dr Hussain added. “This appeal is not only about responding to emergencies – it is about preserving the foundations of Yemen’s health system and preventing further human suffering.”

WHO calls on international partners and donors to urgently scale up support to ensure that critical health services remain available to communities across Yemen throughout 2026.

Related links

WHO Health Emergency Appeal for Yemen 2026

Media contacts

WHO Yemen Communications

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11 February 2026, Aden, Yemen – In Yemen, emergencies arrive without warning – and often in numbers that overwhelm fragile health systems.

Across Marib and Taiz, hospitals are receiving a steady flow of patients injured by road traffic crashes, explosions and gunfire. Many arrive in critical condition. For them, survival depends on minutes: on whether trained teams are available, operating theatres are functional and essential supplies are within reach.

The medical team at Al-Thawarah Hospital performs a surgical operation, providing critical and lifesaving care to patients. Photo credit: WHO 

At Marib General Hospital, one of the country’s busiest referral facilities, trauma cases frequently arrive in waves. Dr Abdulrab Al-Salihi, a general surgery consultant who has worked at the hospital since its establishment, describes the pressure facing frontline teams: “Sometimes we receive 5 to 15 critical cases at the same time – from traffic accidents, explosions, or shootings. We must triage immediately and act fast to save lives.”

Marib now hosts one of the largest populations of internally displaced people in Yemen, placing extraordinary strain on already stretched health services. Despite these challenges, emergency surgeries continue around the clock – saving women, young adults and families arriving with little more than hope.

According to Abdulkareem Ali Hussein Hamid, Acting Chairman of the Marib Hospital Authority, recent support has made a tangible difference in how emergencies are managed. He explains that the presence of supported surgical teams has reduced waiting times and improved staff efficiency in handling complex and critical cases, strengthening the hospital’s overall emergency response capacity.

These gains are being sustained through strengthened emergency systems supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), with funding from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), helping ensure that operating theatres remain functional and life-saving care continues when it is needed most.

Doctors perform an endoscopy procedure on a patient, carefully examining the internal organs. They work together to ensure the procedure is safe, while monitoring the patient’s condition throughout.  Photo credit: WHO

Between October and December 2025, this support translated into tangible, life-saving impact across three referral hospitals—Al Thawrah and Al Gamhouri hospitals in Taiz, and Marib General Hospital. More than 700 surgical procedures were performed, restoring mobility and saving lives, while 3,572 patients received critical consultations, triaging, and timely care. For frontline staff, however, impact is not measured in numbers alone, but in lives touched. Salma Abdulilah Abdullah Shard, a pharmacist at Marib General Hospital, recalls a moment that continues to define her work: “A child was brought to the emergency room with no heartbeat. The team continued resuscitation for more than 40 minutes. When the heartbeat returned, it felt as if life itself had been restored.”

Hundreds of kilometres away, the same urgency defines care at Al-Thawra General Hospital in Taiz. Once severely damaged by years of conflict – some facilities losing up to 80–90% of their capacity – the hospital is gradually restoring emergency and surgical services and now serves patients from four neighbouring governorates.

For patients, the impact of improved emergency care is immediate and deeply personal. Ibrahim Ali Ghaleb, who was rushed to Al-Thawra Hospital after a serious road accident, recalls the speed and coordination of the response: “All the doctors came immediately and worked as one team. I was treated, taken to surgery and cared for without neglect. This hospital saves lives and needs continued support.”

Across both Marib and Taiz, emergency trauma care remains fragile – but operational. Surgeons work through the night, pharmacists manage scarce supplies and generators keep operating theatres running during power cuts.

With ECHO’s support, these hospitals are not only responding to emergencies – they are restoring trust, dignity and the chance of survival for people injured by conflict and displacement.

In a country where every minute can decide a life, this support is not optional.
It is lifesaving.

04 February 2026, Aden, Yemen – In Yemen’s remote high-altitude valleys, communities have lived for generations with sowda, a severe form of onchocerciasis (commonly known as “river blindness”), that causes debilitating skin disease, stigma and long-term suffering. Years of conflict, rugged terrain and chronic funding gaps have left many families without access to treatment.

Door-to-door treatment brings lifesaving onchocerciasis prevention to remote communities in Yemen. Photo credit: WHO/Yemen

In 2025, that reality began to change. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Public Health and Population, and with technical and operational support from WHO, Yemen implemented one of its most ambitious onchocerciasis mass drug administration (MDA) campaigns yet – reaching populations long considered unreachable.

Reflecting on this shift, Dr Ali Al-Waleedi, Deputy Minister for the Primary Health Care Sector, observes that for decades entire families had lived with sowda without ever receiving treatment. He says the campaign fundamentally changed that reality, as health teams crossed mountains, facing insecurity and isolation, to reach every household – demonstrating that no community in Yemen is unreachable when commitment and the right strategy come together.

In December 2025, WHO supported the Ministry of Public Health and Population to redesign the MDA approach, moving from static distribution points to an intensive door-to-door strategy across 10 high-priority districts in Hajjah and Al-Mahweet governorates and 6 highly-endemic districts of Taiz governorate. Despite the difficult terrain and insecurity, the adapted approach achieved full geographical access, reaching 91% population coverage in Hajjah and Al-Mahweet and 86.5% in Taiz – well above the WHO-recommended 80% threshold for effective disease control.

Community leadership proved decisive. Dr Ahmed Thabit, National Professional Officer at WHO Yemen, highlights that the campaign was driven by communities themselves. With WHO’s guidance, local volunteers – especially women – became the backbone of implementation, building trust, entering homes that had never been reached before and ensuring every dose protected a life. In Hajjah and Al-Mahweet, 419 community health volunteers, more than half of them women, safely administered over 732 000 donated Mectizan® tablets, protecting hundreds of thousands of people from infection.

Sustaining these gains amid shrinking resources was equally critical. Earlier, in September 2025, WHO had worked closely with the Ministry of Public Health and Population and partners to prevent a dangerous interruption of MDA activities in the 6 highly-endemic districts of Taiz. Dr Nasreen, Director of the Negelected Tropical Disease Programme at the Minsitry, notes that at a time when funding gaps threatened to reverse years of progress, maintaining treatment was essential to prevent resurgence. By optimizing limited resources and using 470 179 donated Mectizan® tablets, the campaign safeguarded hard-won gains and kept Yemen on track toward eliminating onchocerciasis as a public health problem by 2030.

Together, these efforts show that elimination is possible – even in conflict-affected and resource-constrained settings. By adapting delivery strategies, empowering communities and sustaining partnerships, WHO and the Ministry of Public Health and Population continue to translate global commitments into life-changing impact for Yemen’s most vulnerable populations.

These achievements prove that with targeted investment, adaptive strategies and community leadership, even the most complex challenges can be overcome. By sustaining treatment, empowering volunteers and protecting hard-won gains, WHO and the Ministry of Public Health and Population are keeping Yemen on track to eliminate onchocerciasis as a public health problem by 2030. Continued financial support from partners – through the integration of vector control and MDA activities for all neglected tropical diseases – is critical to ensure that progress is not only maintained but accelerated until elimination is reached.