The World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, in partnership with the Yemeni government, are working on an initiative to strengthen the resilience of hospitals to climate change.
Since the start of Yemen’s protracted crisis, this partnership has helped prevent the collapse of more than 100 hospitals where over 3.9 million people received health care, WHO said in a statement on its website.
The initiative focuses on developing hospitals that are safer, greener and more capable of responding to emergencies.
The Organization also plans to expand the pilot initiative to more hospitals, improving emergency preparedness, operational efficiency and health system resilience.
According to WHO, hospitals provide lifesaving medical care to people suffering from severe illness, injuries, complications from chronic diseases and other critical medical conditions.
In Yemen, it said, when people need health care, they often turn first to the nearest hospital.
Between November 2023 and June 2024, WHO said over 3.9 million people received health care at supported hospitals: 1.1 million people were treated in emergency rooms, 324,000 received inpatient care and 206,000 surgeries, 93,000 deliveries and 38,000 caesarean sections were performed.
WHO support in 2024 has included the procurement of $7 million of essential commodities, including insulin and other diabetic and cardiovascular medicines, intravenous fluids to treat infections, including cholera, and diagnostic laboratory kits.
The Organization also distributed 66,374 cylinders of oxygen to 37 facilities and 3.7 million liters of fuel to 143 facilities.
“These essential investments not only save lives but stabilize Yemen’s entire health infrastructure amidst the prolonged crisis, ensuring essential services reach those in need,” said WHO Representative to Yemen Dr. Arturo Pesigan when explaining the impact of WHO’s partnership with the World Bank.
“Without these resources, the system would be at risk of collapse,” he added.
In recent years, in accordance with the humanitarian-peace-development nexus approach, WHO has complemented its provision of lifesaving support with efforts to improve the quality of care in supported facilities and strategic action to guide future investments.
In addition to clinical and technical training, WHO has focused on often overlooked areas, including human resources, finance and hospital management, to ensure that facilities are equipped to effectively manage everyday health services and respond to emergencies.
WHO said it guided the development of Yemen’s first-ever hospital sector profile, and in 2024 initiated work on the country’s first hospital sector strategy with the goal of improving planning and implementation of people-centered hospitals, strengthening preparedness and emergency response and supporting the monitoring and evaluation of hospital sector performance.
