A new report (available in Arabic and English) by the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC) identified 24 incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care in Yemen in 2022. In these incidents, at least seven health workers were killed and five others kidnapped. Health facilities were damaged at least 12 times and this often led to their closure, impacting the population’s access to health care.

This factsheet is based on the dataset 2022 SHCC Health Care Yemen Data, which is available for download on HDX.

Overview

Incidents spread from nine of Yemen’s governorates in 2021 to 14 in 2022, with new cases reported in Ad Dali’, Aden, Al Bayda’, Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Hajjah, Ibb, and Sana’a governorates, reflecting the ongoing armed violence in the country. Most incidents affected health care providers from the national health structure.

All 12 incidents where health facilities, including hospitals, a warehouse, and a health institute, were damaged involved the use of explosive weapons, including air strikes, grenades, and shelling.

The Impact of Attacks on Health Care

In February 2023, the WHO reported that 46% of all Yemeni health facilities were only partially functioning or completely out of service due to shortages of staff, funds, electricity, medicines, supplies, and equipment. As of 2023, at least 10 million people are estimated to have no access to health care services. Moreover, an estimated 2.9 million women of reproductive age lack access to maternal, child care, and reproductive services, while an estimated 1.1 million children suffering from malnutrition are facing deteriorating health or even death.

Direct damage to health facilities not only endangers the safety of health workers and patients, but can also lead to the irreparable damaging of equipment necessary for vital care, making the provision of such care more difficult.