Chicago (November 8, 2019) – In response to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Yemen, the Humanitarian Alliance for Yemen is set to deploy a new short-term medical mission early this month.
Led by MedGlobal, the new medical mission will commence today and end on November 23, 2019, with the overall objective of providing emergency healthcare and educational services to vulnerable populations in the Hadhramout and Ma’rib governorates in Yemen.
“More than 90% of the people of Yemen are in need of assistance. There is an epidemic of cholera that has affected 1 million Yemenis and caused thousands of deaths. There is severe malnutrition among children, and people are dying unnecessarily from treatable conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer,” says the Humanitarian Alliance for Yemen.
Throughout the mission, an internationally diverse and skilled team will be volunteering in the Yemeni cities of Seiyun (Hadhramout) city and Ma’rib city. The 23-member medical team will provide services like internal medicine, surgeries, medical training, and hold daily lectures and workshops to cover the most critical medical topics and daily challenges in local healthcare facilities and propose practical solutions. In addition, the Alliance will supply multiple local healthcare facilities with vital medical equipment, surgical supplies, and essential medications.
“We are excited to launch our fourth medical mission to Yemen. Our diverse team of 23 physicians and nurses are volunteering from five different counties is partnering with our Yemen colleagues to address some of the challenges they are facing due to the ongoing war and humanitarian crisis. Our team will be providing training on emergency medicine, Maternal health, Neonatal health and managing Non-communicable Diseases like Cancer and Diabetes. Our surgeons will be performing surgeries on patients with cancer and other surgical conditions” says Dr. Zaher Sahloul, Medglobal president who is joining the team in Yemen on his fourth medical trip to the country.
This mission comes amid a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation where 19.7 million people in Yemen lack access to basic health services due to the severe collapse of essential systems. Most beneficiaries of this medical mission will be internally displaced people (IDPs) who face a wide range of protection needs and vulnerabilities.
This new initiative of the four U.S.-based nonprofit organizations that make up the Humanitarian Alliance for Yemen (UMR, MedGlobal, Project HOPE, and Pure Hands) is part of broader efforts to ease the humanitarian crisis and respond to the health needs of Yemenis after five years of conflict.