By Dr .Tammam Aloudat*

As we entered the nutrition department of the Mother and Child hospital, a woman sitting at the edge of a bed glanced over at us with suspicion. Strangers usually do not accompany medical staff at this time of the day. The baby was breathing fast and he seemed in pain. I asked his mother’s permission to examine him. She seemed more relaxed once I spoke to her in Arabic. I told her I worked with MSF, and that we were visiting Ibb to assess the health situation and explore ways to support healthcare facilities, which are struggling under a blockade, airstrikes and the war.

The hospital director briefed my colleagues as I continued my conversation with the mother. She told me she had come from a village two hours from Ibb. The worried mother said that her five-month-old was suffering from severe diarrhea and vomiting. As I examined the baby, the pediatrician told me that the baby was suffering from dehydration but had already improved after one day of treatment. The mother smiled as she heard the good news, but soon her face turned gloomy again. When I asked her why, she said she and her husband had had to pay 15,000 YR (around 75 USD) to reach the hospital, and they would have to pay the same to go back; an amount that very few Yemenis can afford and will leave the family in debt for a long time to come.

This is my second visit to Yemen. Since I last came in 2011 some things have not changed at all, such as the kindness and hospitality of people, but also the long power cuts. However, many things have changed for the worse. Today, long queues of cars wait in front of petrol stations, and checkpoints have increased. Yemen’s quiet nights have turned noisy, filled with the sounds of airstrikes and anti-aircraft guns. For me, the biggest difference was that the general sense of optimism had turned into desperation and fear for the future. It is sadly a justified fear, as Yemenis are today living through one of the worst armed conflicts MSF has ever seen.

As we entered the nutrition department of the Mother and Child hospital, a woman sitting at the edge of a bed glanced over at us with suspicion. Strangers usually do not accompany medical staff at this time of the day. The baby was breathing fast and he seemed in pain. I asked his mother’s permission to examine him. She seemed more relaxed once I spoke to her in Arabic. I told her I worked with MSF, and that we were visiting Ibb to assess the health situation and explore ways to support healthcare facilities, which are struggling under a blockade, airstrikes and the war.

The hospital director briefed my colleagues as I continued my conversation with the mother. She told me she had come from a village two hours from Ibb. The worried mother said that her five-month-old was suffering from severe diarrhea and vomiting. As I examined the baby, the pediatrician told me that the baby was suffering from dehydration but had already improved after one day of treatment. The mother smiled as she heard the good news, but soon her face turned gloomy again. When I asked her why, she said she and her husband had had to pay 15,000 YR (around 75 USD) to reach the hospital, and they would have to pay the same to go back; an amount that very few Yemenis can afford and will leave the family in debt for a long time to come.

This is my second visit to Yemen. Since I last came in 2011 some things have not changed at all, such as the kindness and hospitality of people, but also the long power cuts. However, many things have changed for the worse. Today, long queues of cars wait in front of petrol stations, and checkpoints have increased. Yemen’s quiet nights have turned noisy, filled with the sounds of airstrikes and anti-aircraft guns. For me, the biggest difference was that the general sense of optimism had turned into desperation and fear for the future. It is sadly a justified fear, as Yemenis are today living through one of the worst armed conflicts MSF has ever seen.

*Dr Tammam Aloudat, Deputy Medical Director for MSF, just returned from an assessment in Ibb, Yemen. He describes the health and humanitarian needs in this personal account.