Largest children hospital in Yemen is in danger of being shut down completely
SANAA, Jan. 27 (YPA) – The severe oil derivatives crisis that the country has been witnessing for nearly two weeks threatens Al-Sabeen Hospital for Maternity and Childhood in the capital, Sanaa, to come to a complete halt within a few days.
Director of the Maternity and Childhood Hospital, Dr. Magda Al-Khatib, said that the hospital services are on the verge of a complete halt due to the Saudi-led coalition countries’ preventing the arrival of fuel ships to the port of Hodeida. She considered that as a “death sentence for the Yemeni health sector.”
According to Dr. Al-Khatib, the Al-Sabeen Hospital receives thousands of children and women around the clock who need observation in intensive care rooms, nurseries, operations, and provision of oxygen.
She pointed out that “the continuation of the siege on oil derivatives will force the hospital to reduce its services and stop some of them, because what the hospital owns of diesel to generate electricity is not enough for more than a week,” warning that the hospital’s services would stop.
This means stopping 60 incubators and the death of the children in them, suffering of more than 200 women in obstetric emergencies, and also halting 20 caesarean deliveries per day, Dr. Al-Khatib explained.
She held the coalition countries and the international community fully responsible for stopping the services of Al-Sabeen Hospital and other hospitals.
Dr. Al-Khatib indicated that last year the World Health Organization stopped supporting the Al-Sabeen Hospital with oil derivatives, which prompted the hospital to find possible alternatives.
“Whoever talks about the death of two children and a mother every hour in Yemen, this number will double a lot, and a major humanitarian catastrophe will occur with unimaginable consequences due to the siege,” She added.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Public Health in Sanaa warned of the repercussions of the detention of fuel ships and its impact on the health sector, which would led to the decline in the level of medical and treatment services provided to Yemeni citizens.
YPA