Yemen's Health Ministry Warns of Impending Catastrophe for Kidney Failure Patients
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Ministry of Health in Yemen issued a warning that more than 5,000 patients with kidney failure are in danger of death due to a shortage of medical supplies, as a result of the ongoing Saudi blockade and war against the country.
"Drugs and dialysis supplies are running out, and we do not have sufficient stocks in dialysis centers, except for a few that can only hold out for the month of March," said Anis al-Asbahi, the ministry's spokesman in an interview with the Arabic service of Russia's Sputnik news agency.
Al-Asbahi added that if the emergency shipment of medicine does not arrive in the current month, the lives of over 5,000 kidney failure patients and 500 transplant patients will be at risk. He also warned that 17 dialysis centers may be forced to close if necessary medicines are not delivered.
Al-Asbahi accused the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) of "increasing the suffering of patients with kidney failure by abandoning them."
He stated, "The World Health Organization knows that we are facing a real catastrophe as a result of the blockade and the lack of medical supplies due to the closure of Sana'a International Airport, and the lack of financial resources.
"Despite correspondence with WHO, it took the UN agency a year to provide medicines needed for patients with kidney failure."
The ongoing conflict in Yemen has greatly impacted the health sector, with only half of the country's health facilities estimated to be functioning and a severe shortage of medicines, equipment, and staff. The United Nations estimates that 80% of the Yemeni population is now in need of humanitarian aid.
Saudi Arabia, along with its Arab allies and support from the US and other Western states, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015. The war has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and created the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Entisaf Organization for Women’s and Children’s Rights also released a statement earlier this month, saying that more than 3,000 Yemeni children have developed cancer as a result of the Saudi aggression and the tight blockade on the country, putting them at significant risk of death. The rights group criticized international organizations for neglecting Yemeni cancer patients.