Escalation of Conflict in Yemen Impedes Access to Medical Care
17:24 15.09.2016
Laurent Sury, MSF's head of emergency programs said that since the beginning of August, people in Yemen are not traveling for care because they are afraid of using roads or they fear the hospital will be targeted by airstrikes.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The escalated violence in Yemen causes problems for people's access to medical care, Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Border, or MSF) said in a statement on Thursday.
"Now that the violence has resumed, traveling to seek care is life-threatening," Laurent Sury, MSF's head of emergency programs said, as quoted by the statement.
The statement said that during the last 12 months there were four attacks on hospitals in Yemen. The last one, committed by the Saudi led coalition on August 15 in the northern city of Abs, killed 19 people and injured 24 more.
"Since the beginning of August, people are not traveling for care because they are afraid of using roads or they fear the hospital will be targeted," Sury said about consequences of the attacks on hospitals.
The statement noted that the number of indirect victims of the Yemeni conflict is high due to lacking medical facilities and capacities.
MSF also draws attention to the critical situation in the city of Taiz which is engulfed in heavy fighting.
Yemen has been mired in a military conflict between the government headed by Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and Houthi rebels, the country's main opposition force.
Since March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request despite a ceasefire agreed shortly before.
© Sputnik
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