Saudi blockade and war on Yemen have turned into a human catastrophe. While hundreds are starving, more than five thousand individuals with renal failure may be forced to die, says Yemen’s Ministry of Health.
The National Salvation Government of Yemen has warned that the blockade by Saudi Arabia can result in the death of hundreds of patients. According to SABA, a Yemeni News Agency, depletion of the stock of dialysis drugs and medicine for Yemeni patients suffering from chronic kidney disease may result in a disaster.
Citing Ali Jahaf, the Deputy Health Minister, SABA has claimed an acute shortage of medicine and health support systems in the war-torn country.
“We have addressed the United Nations and health organizations operating in Yemen that we need to provide sufficient drug stocks for dialysis sessions for the year 2023”, claimed Ali Jahaf. “We need approximately 500,000 dialysis sessions every year, and despite lots of correspondence and meetings in this regard we have got no response,” he added
Jahaf further said, “We have been warning of a human catastrophe threatening the lives of thousands of dialysis patients in various governorates, but there is no response. It can affect the lives of 5,000 patients with kidney failure who need dialysis sessions and drugs urgently.”
The deputy health minister of Yemen underlined the importance of opening Sana’a airport and the port of Hodeidah. These are vital outlets for medicine and food for millions of Yemenis in the besieged areas by the Saudi-led coalition forces. “Due to the imposed blockade, we are unable to import vital medicine and save our patients,” said the Minister in the Ansarullah-led government of Yemen.
Meanwhile, Anis al-Asbahi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Yemen also called on international organizations to urgently provide dialysis sessions so that dialysis centers would continue to operate and save the lives of patients. Asbahi while stressing the need to open Sana’a airport and Hodeidah port, asked the United Nations to act urgently.
Yemen has been at war with Saudi Arabia-led GCC coalition forces since March 2015. In 2015, Saudi Arabia began a bloody war against Yemen in coordination with its Arab allies. The Saudi troops are being supported by the US and other Western nations, who provided armaments and logistical support. The goal of the Saudi aggression was to crush the Ansarullah resistance movement and install a favorable government in Yemen.
Since then, the war has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis. The United Nations has termed the situation in Yemen, the biggest humanitarian disaster in history.
