Minister of Health: Decline in international funding negatively impacted health and food situation in Yemen

Yemeni Minister of Health, Dr. Qasim Buhaibeh, confirmed that the health sector in Yemen is facing one of the most difficult stages due to the sharp decline in funding for medical facilities in light of the ongoing war and its horrific humanitarian repercussions.

Minister Buhaibeh said in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that the decline in international funding, which decreased by more than 60% compared to the previous year, which he said was due to the multiple humanitarian crises in the region, had a negative impact on the health and nutritional situation, and the lives of many children and women were now threatened.

Dr. Buhaibeh explained that the economic situation in Yemen is going through a difficult phase as a result of the cessation of government revenues and the continuation of the Houthi coup against state institutions, which has accelerated the deterioration of the currency and the economic situation, in addition to the decline in external humanitarian funding, which had contributed significantly to the stability of the health situation, albeit relatively, in the previous period and compensated for the shortage and cessation of government funding in some health programs.

The minister warned that the decline in funding could lead to the closure of nearly 1,000 health centers, with a lack of immunization, nutrition and care services for pregnant women.

Buhaibeh revealed that half of Yemen's children under the age of 5 are currently suffering from chronic malnutrition, and are the most vulnerable to diseases that cause disability or death for many of them, in addition to pregnant women, with the absence of health care, which we expect - with the decline in current support - there will be 500,000 pregnant women without care, and thus complications and deaths will increase.

The Minister of Health pointed out that the developments in the Red Sea affected the reality of importing and prices of medicines in Yemen, as the prices of medicines and medical supplies increased as a result of the increase in insurance prices for Yemeni ports, in addition to the delay in their arrival due to the transfer of a large part of them to the port of Salalah in the Sultanate of Oman and from there by land to Yemen.

In his interview, the Minister discussed the epidemiological situation in Yemen, including cholera, and the risks of the spread of epidemics and diseases, especially with the deterioration of the health sector, lack of funding, and the continuation of natural disasters such as rain and floods that hit several Yemeni governorates.

Regarding the health sector’s requirements to confront the current circumstances, Minister Buhaibeh said, “With the country’s weak economic capabilities, there is no doubt that there is a great need for support from health sector partners, brothers and friends, by providing urgent needs of medicines, tests, health equipment, and field campaigns to combat the spread of diseases and their vectors, to respond to epidemic diseases, and to provide clean drinking water, especially in the affected areas and camps for the displaced.”

Source: Al Jazeera Net