Saudi Arabia is leading international efforts to save children who face malnutrition and deteriorating health conditions in the war-torn country of Yemen. The health condition of Yemenis, especially children, reached a precarious level mainly because of the destruction of a number of hospitals and health clinics, and the blockage of delivery of medical aid by Houthi militias and forces loyal to deposed President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Saudi Press Agency reported quoting a UN Security Council report.
The report documented violations of the militias by misusing centralized hospitals, clinics and medical facilities for military purposes.
It also confirmed 59 incidents of abuse including attacks on 34 hospitals in Aden and Taiz. Recently, the UN Undersecretary for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O'Bryan was barred from inspecting health and medical institutions in the besieged Taiz.
The SPA report also noted that the Riyadh-based King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid is leading international efforts for the rehabilitation of hospitals and the health sector in Yemen by organized programs for the provision of medical services affected by the chaos the coup has created in the country.
The center has so far sent at least 58 trucks carrying more than 600 tons of medical and therapeutic supplies to all Yemeni provinces, starting with Aden and Marib. The Center, in partnership with UNICEF, managed to open many centers as part of the therapeutic nutrition program and dispatched several mobile teams to provide medical treatment and following-up cases of acute malnutrition on a regular basis.
In the cities of Al-Dhalea and Shabwa, the center managed to provide training to 3,153 health workers on the social management of acute malnutrition, opened 854 centers of treating nutrition programs, deployed new mobile teams all over Yemen and provided treatment for 25,8067 children suffering from acute malnutrition.
The center formed 29 new mobile teams to reach remote areas and provided vaccines for 8,111 children suffering from malnutrition. It has also provided support for the implementation of five integrated activities of immunization, reproductive health services, antenatal care and postnatal care in addition to integrated management of childhood illnesses and scanning of 1,221,811 children to ascertain the extent of their disease.
The center provided five-time anti-measles vaccines for 2,61,000 Yemeni children, services for pregnant women and post-delivery care for 2,22,659 women. It also purchased high-voltage diesel-powered generators in addition to solar-powered 45 cooling units to be utilized in the pharmaceutical storage facilities in the provinces and districts, as well as providing psychological support for 106,314 children. The center also provided 12,000,000 vaccines for Yemeni children against measles and rubella diseases and tetanus and whooping cough.
King Salman center, in partnership with World Health Organization, was able to provide medical tests and treatment for a large number of Yemenis. Apart from providing treatment to as many as 17,280 children, it supported nutrition centers in seven provinces and provided specialized training courses to contain malnutrition among children.
