Sanaa-based Health Ministry demands opening airport to medical supplies
SANAA, Dec. 27 (YPA) – The Sanaa-based Ministry of Health called on the international community and the United Nations to lift the blockade and allow the unhindered opening of Sanaa International Airport to medical, therapeutic and food supplies.
In a statement, the ministry held the UN responsible for the ongoing humanitarian and health deterioration in Yemen.
During a press conference on the occasion of the world Epidemic Preparedness Day, the ministry urged international and humanitarian organizations to take urgent measures, fulfill their obligations, resume support for health and nutrition programs, and promote rapid responses to emerging disease threats.
The statement said that the years of war and the blockade have turned Yemen into a fertile ground for the spread of epidemics, describing the continuation of the blockade as a collective war crime and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian conventions, stressing that effective prevention of the pandemic begins with ending aggression and lifting all restrictions.
It warned that the targeting of health facilities and critical infrastructure, along with restrictions on fuel and medicine imports, had led the health system in Yemen to paralyze to high mortality rates, and accelerated the spread of diseases and epidemics that pose a serious threat to regional and global public health.
The statement pointed out that millions of Yemenis are suffering from hunger, malnutrition and lack of access to health care amid the suspension of humanitarian programs and the acute shortage of medical personnel, affirming that health protection is a basic human right that cannot be compromised.
According to the ministry’s statement, about 542 health facilities, including 165 completely destroyed and 376 partially damaged, as a result of the war and blockade, have been destroyed, as well as targeting water and sanitation infrastructure, which led to widespread service outages and increased disease outbreaks.
It added that almost 17 million people are acutely hungry, while 2.6 million children under the age of five are affected by acute malnutrition, including 630,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, 400,000 of whom face the risk of starvation.
“Over 20 million Yemenis are deprived of basic healthcare services due to the acute shortage of medical staff due to migration and conflict-related deaths, the statement clarified. “Patients with chronic diseases, including cancer, kidney failure and diabetes, face what she called a “slow death” due to the cessation of treatment.”
It said that the number of cases of infectious diseases has reached 12,988,378, including 1,776 deaths recorded in 2024 until the 45th week of 2025.
The ministry’s statement called for lifting the blockade and fully reopening Sanaa airport to enter medical and food supplies without restrictions, renewing its warning against the continuation of the blockade that poses a direct threat to public health at the regional and international levels.
AA