Health Minister: No patient has traveled through Sanaa airport since start of UN truce

SANAA, April 19 (YPA) – Minister of Public Health and Population in the Sanaa government, Dr. Taha Al-Mutawakel, said on Monday there is no a single patient has traveled via Sanaa International Airport despite the passage of two weeks of the UN-declared armistice.

The Health Minister added that is because “the Saudi-led coalition continues to delay the opening of Sanaa International Airport.”

During a meeting to review the strategic directions of the health sector and evaluate hospitals for the year 2021, Dr. Al-Mutawakel affirmed that the coalition continues to detain diesel-loaded ships, which exacerbate the suffering in hospitals and health centers.

He indicated that 525 hospitals and health centers were directly destroyed during the years of war and siege.

“Through the siege, the coalition aimed to disrupt the provision of medical services in hospitals and medical centers that remained operating under war conditions,” the health minister said.

He explained that 98% of the quality devices of the medical sector in Yemen have exceeded their lifespan, and a number of them are out of readiness, and that 7000 Yemeni consultants are working in the diaspora, compared to 3,000 who have remained in the country, which has increased pressures on the medical sector.

In the meeting, Dr. Al-Mutawakel concluded that the Health Ministry’s basic strategy is directed towards the countryside to provide medical services and reduce the burden of mobility on the citizen.

YPA