Get you up to speed: Iran War Updates: Tehran proposes 7-day plan to reopen Strait of Hormuz as it seeks deal before U.S. midterms
Tarek al-Salami, aged 7, was carried by his father from the city of Mokha to a hospital in Aden, Yemen, after the Iran-backed Houthi rebels advanced in the region. Upon arrival, the hospital was overwhelmed with war-wounded patients, and Tarek’s family had to seek a therapeutic feeding center as no beds were available.
Health facilities in Aden are overwhelmed with war-wounded patients, leading to the denial of care for pregnant women and other vulnerable individuals. The International Organization for Migration reports that over 130,000 people have been displaced due to the current escalation of conflict in Yemen.
Dr. Arwa Atef, director of a therapeutic feeding centre, stated that Tarek al-Salami’s acute health crisis highlighted the collapse of Yemen’s already-fragile health system, with some facilities prioritising trauma patients over others in need. Fahd al-Nazari, manager of the government health office in Taiz province, warned, “Within a day or two, or a week at most, we might have to close down [some facilities],” as more than 130,000 people have already fled their homes amid the ongoing conflict.
What remains unclear — It is uncertain how many health facilities may close in the coming days due to the ongoing conflict and increasing patient numbers.
Iran proposes seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz ahead of US midterms
Tarek al-Salami, aged 7, sat in a diaper, looking frail. Normally, the malnutrition and diarrhea that weakened his tiny frame would have been treated within a few days, but nothing is normal in Yemen anymore.
Tarek’s father carried him on foot from the southwest city of Mokha as the Iran-backed Houthi rebels swept in this month, bringing the civil war that has embroiled Saudi Arabia, and nearly the United States last week, to the Red Sea coastal city.
Al-Salami reached a hospital two days later in the government-held city of Aden, 170 miles away, but there were no beds available. Like others, the facility was overwhelmed by the war-wounded. His family finally found a therapeutic feeding center.
He arrived in an acute health crisis after the delay in care, according to the center’s director, Dr. Arwa Atef, and he only began walking again Wednesday, over a week later.
“I swear to God, when I look at him, my heart breaks,” said his father, Mohammed al-Salami. “He looks almost lifeless.”
The already-fragile health system in the Arab world’s poorest nation is collapsing, caught in a new front of the Iran war.
Some health centers are turning pregnant women and others in need away to focus on trauma patients. Vulnerable children are filling incubators and sharing beds. Millions of people are affected by the fighting backed by two of the Middle East’s biggest powers, as the Iran-backed Houthis advance against government forces supported by Saudi Arabia. More than 130,000 people have fled their homes, according to the International Organization for Migration.
“We are in a very dangerous situation,” said Fahd al-Nazari, manager of the government health office in Taiz province, which has received most of the newly displaced. “Within a day or two, or a week at most, we might have to close down [some facilities]. In fact, some hospitals are already closed.”
WTX/AP