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...

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...

Dr Ali Abdulla, laboratory specialist and health director at the National Center of Public Health Laboratories in Sana’a 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...

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...

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...

Migrants in yemen face growing protection risks as a result of COVID-19 fears. Photo IOM 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...

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...

Health worker performing ultrasound at Al-Wadhah health centre in Taiz 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...

Thalassemia patient receiving a blood transfusion 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...

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...