Yemen’s young pay price in war
Fighting has ravaged the health system, turning hospitals into graves for kids
“There was no oxygen and there was no help,” chimed in Um Mohammed Zaid, his other grandmother, staring at the baby’s corpse, wrapped in a red cloth, still inside the incubator.
The baby’s twin brother had died a day earlier.
The dispute at the hospital was the latest tragedy for a health care system that has been steadily eroded by a conflict pitting northern rebels against Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
In the turmoil that followed the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, Shiite rebels, known as the Houthis, forced out the government from the capital, Sanaa. A regional coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and supported by the United States entered the war to restore the government. They aimed to prevent Iran’s Shiite theocracy, widely believed to be backing the Houthis, from expanding its influence in a sphere dominated by Sunni Muslim countries.
The war deepened a humanitarian crisis that has put more than 22 million people — 75 percent of Yemen’s population — in need of assistance. More than a third of them are at risk of starvation, according to the United Nations. Thousands have already died from treatable diseases such as cholera, meningitis and diphtheria, and more than 3 million have fled their homes.
One of the better funded public hospitals, al-Sadaqa attracted the poorest and most desperate patients. On any given day, the hospital received anywhere from 500 to 800 patients.
But it labored under almost unimaginable difficulties. For the past three years, it was the fiefdom of the local militia that guarded it, one of the many armed groups seeking influence in Aden. The militiamen routinely harassed doctors and nurses, and allegedly looted equipment. The hospital was forced to hand out salaries of $15 a month per militiaman and could never fire them. “We either had to pay or someone would be killed,” said Jamal Abdul Hamid, the hospital administrator.
Finally, the doctors had had it. Now, with most of its 70-plus doctors and medical trainees on strike, the facility had stopped accepting new arrivals. That potentially jeopardized the lives of thousands of patients who could not afford a private hospital.
On a sultry day in the children’s wing of al-Sadaqa Hospital, 15 babies were suffering from severe malnutrition. But the worst case was 3-year-old Ayesha Ahmed. Her legs were thin as twigs. With each breath, her ribs protruded through her belly, stretching out her thin, dry skin.
Her parents had borrowed $40 for the car to transport them from their village, 200 miles away, and another $75 to buy medicines for their daughter. They arrived at the hospital the day before the dispute, and doctors helped her. Ayesha’s diarrhea ended and she stopped vomiting. She was also drinking fortified milk.
But with her life still teetering precariously, her parents were considering taking Ayesha to another hospital. That would be a financial challenge. “We only have $10 left,” explained Naziha Mahyoub, her mother.
Mundhir was born premature and was the size of a deflated football. His tiny face was attached to a tube that ran to an oxygen bottle, but his body was not moving.
“The oxygen has stopped for the past 10 minutes,” said his mother, Fikria Sa’el, 39, worry evident in her voice. “No bubbles are coming out.”
A nurse rushed to the machine that regulates the oxygen flow. His twin brother, Nadhir, had died nine days earlier.
Suddenly, bubbles emerged in the bottle. Mundhir’s bony chest moved up slightly, and his sister thanked Allah.
But three days later the staff would discover that Mundhir was bleeding inside his intestines, nurses said. A doctor sneaked into the hospital, her face covered by a black veil to avoid the militiamen outside, administered a blood transfusion and left.
Fresh blood flowed through an IV attached to his left arm. Mundhir’s eyes opened. He had survived for 29 days.
In the intensive care unit, 5-month-old Taif, who had a congenital heart disorder, needed a blood transfusion and heart surgery.
Her parents had tried to transfer her to a private hospital the day before. But some were too expensive. Others refused to accept her in such a serious condition. A Malaysian charity offered to perform the surgery for free but said that Taif needed to weigh at least 15 pounds. She weighed 6.
Eight-month-old Alin was in the next bed. She had been in a coma when she arrived, but she had improved when the doctors treated her, before they left the hospital. Now, her condition was deteriorating again. Her medical report read: “In severe shock.”
The doctors ended their walkout after an armed force linked to the Saudi and UAE-led coalition took over the hospital’s security.
Ayesha’s parents brought her back to al-Sadaqa after the protest ended and her health started to improve.
Taif took a turn for the worse and died even as she received the blood transfusion she had so long needed.
Alin was transferred to other hospitals for treatment.
Mundhir died on the day the strike ended.