Yemen's healthcare system confronts mounting burden

Hospitals also lack the necessary equipment to operate on the growing number of wounded, with 27,000 people reported injured in Yemen since October 2015 [AP

Doha - As the war in Yemen nears its first anniversary, the state of healthcare in the country has never been more precarious, doctors say.

More than 6,000 people, about half of whom were civilians, have been killed since the start of Saudi-led coalition air strikes against Houthi rebels in March 2015, according to the United Nations. More than 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, while the World Health Organization has warned that Yemen's healthcare system is "on the brink of collapse".

Tariq Noman, a cardiovascular surgeon based in Yemen who spoke at the Yemen Humanitarian Crisis Conference in Qatar last month, said that the current situation is "disastrous".

"Houthi militias have been attacking hospitals, ambulances and medical staff directly. Hospitals in Taiz have come under shelling from Houthis almost on a daily basis," Noman told Al Jazeera. "But what can we do? We have to go to work and do our job."

Source by: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/03/yemen-healthcare-system-confronts-mounting-burden-160311111849065.html