Health care system in Yemen on verge of collapse, says IOM

JEDDAH: The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday said it had provided 3 tons of medicines and medical supplies for the Revolution Hospital in Sana’a, Yemen.

The health care system in Yemen is on the verge of collapse with only 45 percent of the medical facilities being in service after about 274 medical facilities and hospitals were destroyed, the IOM said in a statement.

The largest hospital in the country lacks sufficient funding and is facing shortages of medical supplies and provisions, it said.

The health care sector had been lacking funding needed for operational costs including salaries of employees who have not been paid since September 2016. Many Yemeni citizens are unable to receive health care services in the country because of the health care system situation, and cannot go abroad for treatment because the Sana’a airport is closed, the IOM added.

IOM “supported Yemeni hospitals in 2016 and 2017 with water reservoirs, solar panels, rechargeable batteries, medical supplies and daily potablewater trucks,” it said.

Meanwhile, Yemeni government forces and their Arab allies are massing north and south of the Houthi- held Red Sea port of Hodeidah.

Hodeidah port and province is controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis and has been the entry point for 70 percent of Yemen’s food supplies as well as humanitarian aid.

Mohsen Khasrof, a senior military official in President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s Aden-based government, said it was only a matter of time for an attack on Hodeidah to start.

“The political decision of liberating Hodeidah has been taken and military preparations have been completed, only the timing remains to be decided,” he said.