Yemen official: 55% of health facilities bombed, looted by rebels

GENEVA: Houthi militias and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh have destroyed and looted more than 55 percent of health facilities in Yemen since September 2014, a Yemeni official said on Tuesday.
Health sector losses in Aden amounted to $7 million, Health Ministry Undersecretary Dr. Ali Al-Walidi said at a symposium on Yemen organized by the British Arab Center for Strategic Studies and Development in Geneva.
Al-Thawrah Hospital and the Swedish Children’s Hospital in the city of Taiz have been repeatedly attacked, he added.
Rebels “targeted the dialysis department and the cholera treatment center at the Republican Hospital in Taiz,” he said.
“The power and drainage network was stopped, and the hospital’s dialysis machines were destroyed.”
Emergency vehicles and primary health care programs in the ministry’s general office have been looted, Al-Walidi said.
“The legitimate Yemeni government has made great efforts to reduce the spread of epidemics, with the generous support of the brothers in the Arab alliance, particularly Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait,” he added.
Saudi Arabia has allocated $74.8 million to fight cholera, and 55 tons of medicines and medical supplies have been sent by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief), whose medical aid to Yemen is ongoing.
“KSRelief has repaired 16 hospitals and health facilities in Aden. It has equipped operation rooms and oncology centers with medical supplies and medicines for chronic and infectious diseases,” Al-Walidi said.
The UAE Red Crescent delivered $12 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) in Yemen to rehabilitate 24 hospitals in nine governorates, restore Khalifa Hospital in Socotra, and send medical equipment and supplies to Taiz, Marib, Hadramout and other governorates.