No oxygen, no fuel, non-functional incubators—Yemen’s hospitals in crisis

Hospitals in the besieged Yemeni city of Taiz are reeling from a severe fuel crisis. The situation has become so dire that at one hospital, the number of incubators available for newborns has been slashed from 40 to just 10, putting the lives of premature and ill infants at risk. Simultaneously, shortages of oxygen, medicines, and medical supplies are intensifying.

This information was reported by the news agency Reuters on Monday (October 26).

Nada Ahmed, a nurse in the neonatal care unit at the Yemeni-Swedish Hospital in Taiz, stated, "There is no oxygen, no fuel to run the incubators, and no means to keep the babies warm."

Nawal Najib, the supervisor of the unit, warned that if fuel supplies do not arrive, the hospital may be forced to cease operations. Such a scenario could lead to the deaths of newborns or result in permanent disabilities. The report notes that the city of Taiz has been largely cut off since October 3. Escalating clashes between Yemeni government forces and the Iran-aligned Houthi movement have obstructed the delivery of humanitarian aid and prevented civilians from leaving the city.

The closure of vital supply routes, including the Taiz-Aden corridor, has exacerbated shortages of food, water, and fuel. According to the United Nations, nearly half of the 250,000 people displaced by recent fighting have sought refuge in Taiz.

Christian Lindmeier, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO), stated that 42 healthcare facilities in Taiz are facing an acute shortage of fuel, oxygen, medicines, and medical supplies.

Abdullah al-Radfani, a local driver, told Reuters that the price of fuel in the city has surged to 2,000 Yemeni rials per liter.

The sharp rise in fuel prices has also made it increasingly difficult for ordinary people to access medical care. Fatma Zafar Shotah, a policy and media manager for Oxfam in Yemen, reports that a kidney patient, unable to afford the cost of regular travel, has been forced to spend two nights at the medical center itself. The cost of a single trip, which was previously around half a dollar, has now risen to nearly 10 dollars.

This crisis has spread well beyond Taiz. The medical aid organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has stated that hospitals and primary health centers in the southern provinces of Aden and Lahij are experiencing power disruptions due to a lack of fuel. This has severely impacted the operations of surgical theaters and intensive care units.

In addition to the fuel crisis, food shortages and malnutrition have reached alarming levels. According to the World Food Programme, more than 800,000 people in Taiz and its surrounding areas have been left without food assistance.

Ricardo Pires, a spokesperson for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), stated that out of 168,000 children screened in Taiz this year, 52,000 are suffering from acute malnutrition—with more than 11,500 of them suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

UNICEF has stockpiled approximately 8,000 cartons of specialized, life-saving nutritional food, which the organization estimates will be sufficient to sustain treatment efforts for about three months. However, ongoing insecurity and movement restrictions could make it difficult to deliver these supplies or for malnourished children to reach medical centers in the future.

MSF notes that the situation regarding child malnutrition in southern Yemen is being further exacerbated by the arrival of families fleeing conflict in the northern regions and along the west coast.

Between September 15 and October 22, the organization’s mobile medical clinics in Aden and Lahij screened 299 children under the age of five for malnutrition. Of these, 44 children (14.7%) were found to be suffering from moderate acute malnutrition, while 28 children (9.4%) were suffering from severe malnutrition. Children suffering from severe malnutrition require hospital treatment.

Sara Ghanem, manager of MSF’s mobile health operations, says, “Everywhere we go, we encounter at least one or two children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.”