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Yemen’s latest escalation is pushing its already fragile health system toward a “breaking point”, with casualties and displacement increasing while essential services come under mounting pressure, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
Annette Heinzelmann, WHO regional emergency director for the Eastern Mediterranean, told journalists in Geneva that 4,481 casualties, including 838 deaths, had been reported since Aug. 6. She cited data from Yemen’s Health Ministry in Aden.
Displacement and damage to health facilities
More than 180,500 people have been displaced across 10 governorates, while over 3,600 Yemenis have crossed into Djibouti since Sept. 10. Nearly half of those arrivals are children, and humanitarian partners are preparing for between 5,000 and 10,000 more people to arrive in the coming weeks.
Nine health facilities or other health assets have been damaged, forced out of service, closed or directly attacked in Taiz, Lahj and Al-Hodeidah, Heinzelmann said.
Emergency obstetric and newborn care has also been suspended at two hospitals in Marib and Ras Al-Arah, as staff and capacity have been redirected to treating trauma cases.
Even before the latest escalation, only about 60% of Yemen’s health facilities were fully operational, according to the WHO official.
Disease outbreaks add to pressure
Several disease outbreaks are compounding the crisis. More than 22,000 suspected measles cases and 128 deaths have been reported this year, alongside 7,784 suspected cholera or acute watery diarrhoea cases and 9,604 suspected dengue cases.
The WHO has secured only $2 million of the $9 million needed for its response. Supplies of some lifesaving items, including trauma kits and essential medicines, have already run out at the organisation’s warehouse in Aden.
