Rashid Hassan

RIYADH: The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) has revealed a plan to support the health sector in Yemen, in coordination with Yemen’s High Relief Committee.

“Since the current humanitarian crisis began in Yemen, KSRelief has been providing support throughout the country, including extensive aid to the Taiz governorate,” the KSRelief media center told Arab News.

“Iranian-backed Houthi militias have inflicted great damage to the country’s infrastructure, including the health care sector. To address this issue, KSRelief in coordination with Yemen’s High Relief Committee, representing Yemen’s Ministry of Public Health and Population, has developed a strategic plan to support both the public and private health sectors,” the center said. “Our goal is to deliver health care services to all Yemenis. We aim to reduce the spread of epidemic diseases, supply medical facilities with equipment, supplies, medicines and intravenous (IV) fluids.”

According to KSRelief, it provides dialysis solutions and other medications necessary for treating chronic diseases to Yemen.

“An 80-ton convoy of five aid trucks from KSRelief carrying 300 different kinds of medicines, IV fluids, dialysis solutions and medical supplies has reached Taiz to strengthen the capacity of the governorate’s health care services,” it said.

KSRelief provides urgent treatment for wounded and injured Yemenis in their country, and those for whom treatment is not possible in Yemen are transferred to Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region.

The center has implemented numerous health projects in Taiz, including support for Al-Thawra Hospital, which the center has provided with equipment, supplies and medicines. The first phase of support to the hospital’s orthopedic department alone amounted to $3.15 million.

When a recent shipment of dialysis solutions was stolen by the Houthi militias, KSRelief acted quickly to provide Al-Thawra Hospital with a replacement shipment. KSRelief also provided support to the Al-Jomhory Hospital and other regional health centers in Taiz.

KSRelief’s support for dialysis centers throughout Yemen is continuing as a second phase of support provides six month’s worth of medical supplies. Fuel is also being distributed to 95 health facilities across Yemen in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO).

KSRelief’s projects cover many areas of the medical sector including primary healthcare and maternal and pediatric healthcare programs implemented in collaboration with UNICEF. It has also provided treatment to Yemeni patients suffering from eye diseases. The first phase of the latter project is now complete and the second is underway, the center said.

KSRelief has also provided Al-Thawra Hospital with an oxygen generation plant in a project carried out in collaboration with WHO, run an immunization program for children under the age of five implemented with UNICEF, and a country-wide cholera treatment and prevention program was implemented jointly with WHO and UNICEF.

KSRelief also extended support to the Artificial Limbs Centers in Taiz, Aden, Mukalla and Sana’a in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and is currently preparing a new Artificial Limbs Center in Taiz.

“KSRelief is keen to ensure that healthcare services are available throughout Yemen, and continues to enable the provision of comprehensive, impartial healthcare services to all in need, in coordination with its local and international partners,” said the media center.