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LONDON: The World Health Organization said it urgently required $31 million to expand its health response in war-torn Yemen, where the latest escalation in hostilities has killed almost 1,000 people, displaced nearly 198,000 and overwhelmed already strained medical services.<\/p>\n
The appeal for humanitarian funding has more than tripled from the previous target of $9 million as needs have grown, the agency said. It is also seeking $700,000 to support people who have fled to neighboring Djibouti.<\/p>\n
Yemen\u2019s Ministry of Health and Population reported 959 deaths and 4,207 injuries across 10 governorates between the start of the latest escalation in early August and Oct. 2. As of Sept. 28, nearly 198,000 people had been displaced, many of them more than once, according to the government\u2019s Executive Unit for Internally Displaced Persons Camp Management. Another 3,800 fled to Djibouti.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe situation is evolving into a complex emergency, with health needs rising as resources are already severely stretched,\u201d said Dr. Syed Jaffar Hussain, the WHO\u2019s representative in Yemen.<\/p>\n
Access to emergency treatment remains a critical gap in healthcare services, he added. Trauma-stabilization points on the Lahj coast and in Al-Dhale lack partners to operate them, as a result of which seriously injured people lack timely treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor people with severe injuries, access to trauma care within the first hour can determine whether they survive,\u201d he said. \u201cFew agencies are able to provide trauma care, leaving critical gaps along the front lines.\u201d<\/p>\n
The shortages extend beyond emergency treatment. About half of health facilities in affected governorates lack support from partner organizations, the WHO said, while gaps in mobile health services leave displaced families particularly vulnerable.<\/p>\n
Only about 1,250 of the 198,000 displaced persons, less than 1 percent, had received any health services as of last week, according to the organization. Many households in Taiz and Lahj continue to go without adequate assistance.<\/p>\n
Funding shortages are also disrupting hospital care; facilities lack surgical supplies, anesthetics, blood bank stocks and fuel, and deliveries of essential supplies are taking longer and costing more, the WHO said.<\/p>\n
Emergency maternity services have been suspended in Marib and Ras Al-Arah. At the same time, disease outbreaks are adding to the pressure; cholera cases have tripled in just three weeks, with infections detected in displacement camps, according to the WHO.<\/p>\n
More than 22,000 suspected cases of measles, and 128 deaths, have been reported this year, and the disease continues to spread among unvaccinated, displaced children. Cases of dengue fever and malaria are also rising, and mobile health teams have found high levels of severe and moderate acute malnutrition among displaced children.<\/p>\n
The latest health emergency is unfolding amid a broader humanitarian crisis across Yemen. According to the International Organization for Migration, 22.3 million people, or more than two-thirds of the country\u2019s population, need humanitarian assistance and protection this year.<\/p>\n
To help address those needs, Saudi aid agency KSrelief and the IOM signed an agreement for a $2.6 million project to improve living conditions for internally displaced people and vulnerable host communities.<\/p>\n
KSrelief also distributed 20 tents, 20 shelter kits and 20 food baskets to displaced families in Hadhramout governorate on Saturday alone. On Sunday, it provided 46 shelter kits in Aden to 217 people from 46 families displaced from Taiz and Al-Hodeidah, as part of the fifth phase of the agency\u2019s emergency shelter plan for Yemen.<\/p>\n
The WHO said it was preparing to expand a number of services, including trauma and emergency care, disease outbreak responses, essential health services and the provision of medical supplies.<\/p>\n
Without additional funding, however, gaps in trauma care, maternal and newborn services, outbreak responses and care for displaced people will continue to widen, the organization warned. It said El-Nino conditions expected to begin this month could further exacerbate disease outbreaks and levels of malnutrition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n