Yemen is facing a humanitarian catastrophe of staggering proportions: More than 23.4 million people — almost three-quarters of the country’s population — are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection. The ravages of the conflict, now in its eighth year, have left people without enough food, clean water and basic health services. Many say it is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
FHI 360 applies a 360-degree lens to its response to the crisis: delivering medical equipment and medicines, establishing water collection sites and installing solar panels to ensure a reliable source of electricity. In addition, we train community health volunteers who host information sessions and go door-to-door to deliver essential health and nutrition information.
Meet Dr. Shada Omer Abdullah
Dr. Shada Omer Abdullah is a gynecologist at the Madinat Al Shaab health facility in the southern city of Aden. She has worked here for four years — but until FHI 360 opened a maternity unit in December, she could provide only reproductive health consultations, leaving most women to give birth at home. Now women can deliver their babies more safely at the facility.
“I usually try to offer [pregnant women] emotional support, aside from teaching them how to take care of themselves during the pregnancy journey,” Dr. Shada says.
“From Al Shaab health facility, we are really thankful for all the services from FHI 360, especially the staff who come to offer support and guidance. Thank you for supporting the needs in this community.”
Dr. Shada is always on call. The facility is centrally located, so people can get there easily. They receive health care and medicines free of charge because of FHI 360’s support.
On a busy day, Dr. Shada sees as many as 25 patients, most of them women who had to flee their homes for safer shelter in one of three nearby camps for displaced people. She provides prenatal care, conducts ultrasound examinations, tests for infections and gives advice on newborn welfare.
Combating malnutrition
Almost one-third of Yemeni families have gaps in their diet, and malnutrition rates among women and children remain the highest in the world; according to the World Food Programme, 1.3 million pregnant or lactating women and 2.2 million children under 5 require treatment for acute malnutrition.
Among those children is the 11-month old son of Faruk Saeed Ali, who brought him for a follow-up visit at the Al Ordi health facility. The little boy has been improving, but results have been slow, since Faruk lives far from the health facility and struggles to make ends meet. As a result, the boy is not seen regularly; when Faruk does make the trip, he must bring all his children.
Clean water for better health
The challenges faced by Faruk’s son and Dr. Shada’s patients can feel insurmountable. Violent conflict cuts families off from health services, and the plummeting value of the Yemeni rial has made food inordinately expensive for the average family.
And a lack of clean water leads to waterborne illnesses, which are particularly dangerous for children and pregnant women.
FHI 360 works with communities and health facilities to restore disrupted water supplies by rehabilitating water sources, building water towers and establishing water-collection points to ensure more convenient access to clean water.
A 360-degree approach
Challenges as complex and intractable as the humanitarian crisis in Yemen need comprehensive solutions. We don’t just treat patients; we look to understand the other factors that erode health and to address them at the source.
Availability of — and access to — clean water can reduce the incidence of disease, so we built and repaired water points. Health facilities needed reliable electricity, so we installed solar panels. There are few health clinics in remote areas, so we repaired nine health facilities and one mobile clinic.
Since November 2020, FHI 360-supported health facilities have provided over 90,000 health consultations in Yemen — and we look beyond patient care and apply our 360-degree lens. Our Yemen team relentlessly pursues better health for their communities in this, the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
Footnotes
Photo credits: Shirley Amimo for FHI 360