The World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday warned that the dialysis centres in Yemen suffer from a severe shortage of essential supplies such as medication and fuel to run hospital equipment, as well as a lack of funds to pay health care workers.

The organisation said in a statement that between September 2019 and May 2020, about 110,340 dialysis sessions were provided to more than 4,300 patients suffering from chronic kidney failure.

The statement quoted the Noncommunicable Disease Officer at the WHO country office in Yemen, Dr Abdulwahab Al-Nehmi, as saying that “limited access to dialysis sessions and treatment put the lives of these vulnerable patients at higher risk, not to mention the suffering they go and their families through because of the lack of treatment.”

The statement noted that despite the long efforts of WHO and its partners in coordination with health authorities, significant gaps remain due to funding shortages to the humanitarian response in Yemen under the throes of the collapse of public institutions.

The statement said more than 17.9 million people out of the total population of 30 million require health care services in 2020, while only half of health facilities are fully functioning.