Over one million patients at risk of death due to closure of Sanaa Airport: Transport Ministry

SANAA, Sept. 6 (YPA) – The Ministry of Transport in Sanaa on Sunday said that more than one million patients are at risk of death due to the lack of drugs that are transported through the air, in light of the continued closure of Sanaa International Airport.

In a statement issued Sunday on the occasion of the passage of four years of Saudi-led coalition’s air blockade on Sanaa International Airport, the ministry indicated that the closure of the airport had exacerbated the humanitarian situation and led to the death of 80,000 patients who needed to travel for treatment.

“More than 450,000 patients are still in urgent need of travel for treatment, and from 25 to 30 patients die every day due to the continued closure of the airport,” the ministry added.

The statement revealed that more than 65,000 patients with cancerous tumors are now threatened with death as a result of the continued closure of the airport by the coalition, affirming that more than 12,000 patients with kidney failure need urgent kidney transplantation outside Yemen.

According to the statement, one patient out of every ten travelers who had to travel through Aden and Sayoun airports dies due to travel hardship, road accidents, and the arbitrary measures they were exposed to there.

The ministry referred, in its statement, that the continued closure of Sanaa airport has prevented more than four million expatriates from returning to the homeland to visit their families and disrupted the interests of many businessmen, while thousands of students lost their scholarships abroad.

The coalition’s closure of Sanaa International Airport had isolated Yemen, restricted the freedom of millions of its people, and disrupted navigation to vital and commercial supplies.

YPA