Health System in Yemen Close to Collapse: Yemen Is Facing a Growing Humanitarian Catastrophe as Health Workers There Risk Their Lives to Help Civilians Caught Up in the Deadly Conflict
2015; World Health Organization; Volume: 93; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1564-0604
Autores Tópico(s)Health and Conflict Studies
ResumoSince armed conflict erupted on 19 March, Yemen's already fragile health system has come under enormous strain. emergency health-care needs of the population have now become so great that health workers are struggling to provide essential health care. The health system is on the brink of collapse, says Dr Ahmed Shadoul, the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative for Yemen. is coordinating the humanitarian response to health issues with Yemen's Ministry of Health and 20 partner humanitarian organizations in Yemen, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). Heavy bombardment and airstrikes combined with continuous fighting, with few ceasefires allowing for humanitarian activity, have hampered citizens' access to health care and increased the pressure on the health facilities that are still functioning. Right now everybody--international and Yemeni health workers--is focusing on emergency health provision because of the massive numbers of war wounded, says ICRC health coordinator for Yemen, Monica Arpagaus. fighting has reached 21 of the country's 22 governorates (provinces) and more than 4000 people have been killed since March in this impoverished country at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, according to the United Nations. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHO is committed to ensuring that all Yemenis continue to have access to health services, including those in the hardest-to-access areas, says Shadoul, through the provision of emergency life-saving medicines, trauma kits, interagency emergency health kits, diarrhoeal disease kits and blood bank supplies which are urgently needed. People in several governorates are suffering particularly from a lack of health care due to the fighting, such as Taiz in the south and Sa'ada in the north, Shadoul says. fighting intensified in Taiz in late August and early there were no formal rescue services so residents had to dig out their loved ones from the rubble of damaged buildings and bring the injured to the hospitals themselves. When the warring parties were both present in Taiz, it was impossible for us to pick up the wounded because neither side would stop shooting when the ambulances attempted to move, says Hassan Boucenine, head of the MSF Yemen Mission. Intense fighting in Sa'ada resulted in the destruction of the ICRC Maran health clinic. There were 18 airstrikes in Sa'ada during the first week of September, Boucenine recalls. It was unbelievable. team [of health workers] had to hide inside the hospital. Meanwhile access to health services is deteriorating in other parts of the country too, including Hodeida and Hajjah governorates, where most of the internally displaced have fled, as well as in most others including Hadramout, Aldhaleh, and Abyan, Shadoul notes. In addition to restricted access to health facilities there is a severe shortage of medical supplies and equipment and Yemen's health system is largely dependent on what and its humanitarian partners can bring into the country, but these supplies won't be able to cover all the gaps, Shadoul says. ICRC and are delivering water in many parts of Yemen. is supplying fuel to hospitals across the country to keep electricity generators functioning for operating theatres and for the country's blood banks and labs, as well as petrol for Shadoul says: WHO has provided the entire fleet of ambulances with geographic positioning systems and is sponsoring the operational cost of more than 15 ambulances. Since the crisis in Yemen escalated in March, health facilities have been hit by bombs and health and humanitarian workers are increasingly targeted. Almost 23% of the health facilities in Yemen are no longer functional either because they were hit, they were already in poor condition or they happened to be close to military targets, Shadoul says, adding that many health workers and patients are too afraid to come to the health facilities. …
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