Over 3000 Yemeni Children with Congenital Heart Defects Urgently Need to Travel for Treatment

The head of the Cardiac Patients Treatment Center at the Al-Thawra Hospital Authority in Sanaa, confirmed the lack of the necessary capabilities for surgery for cardiac malformations for children in Yemen which caused high mortality among them.

In a statement to Almasirah Network, Dr. Muhammad al-Kibsi explained that Yemen is witnessing one of the highest rates of death for cardiac malformations patients for several reasons, the most important of which is the scarcity of equipment, the lack of vital medicines and their high cost due to the scarcity of their entry to Yemen in light of the US-Saudi blockade.

He indicated that more than 3000 children with congenital heart defects, most of them urgently need to travel for treatment but are unable because of the closure of Sana’a International Airport.

He pointed out that we are witnessing a suspicious failure of the World Health Organization and other international organizations to assist in the entry of devices for treating patients, noting that their role in this is negligible.

The head of the Cardiac Patients Treatment Center at the Al-Thawra Hospital Authority pointed out that there are many international bodies that offered to help them insert cardiac devices, but were unable to do so due to the obstacles of the US-Saudi aggression.

While a medical source explained to Almasirah that there are types of cardiac devices that are not available in heart centers, and the patient is required to purchase them before performing any operation for him.

Last month, the Head of the Pediatric Leukemia Center confirmed that the center lacks supportive drugs and is unable to fully perform bone marrow transplants.

“We treat children with leukemia amid sensitive circumstances as a result of the acute shortage of the high-quality vital, supportive and chemical medicines,”  Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Hadi told Almasirah.

He pointed out that the shortage of medicines for leukemia patients is due to the reluctance of some pharmaceutical companies to import them and the prevention of their entering through the Ministry of Health by the US-Saudi aggression.

He pointed out that more than 30% of children diagnosed with leukemia need to travel for treatment abroad and are at risk of death due to the closure of Sana’a International Airport.

Al-Hadi added that “the number of pediatric leukemia patients in the center in the capital, Sana’a, has reached nearly 1,300, and we have witnessed a significant increase in the number of patients during the past five years”. He explained that the center receives large numbers of children’s leukemia cases from all over the country, at a rate of two to three new cases per week.

Yemeni Ministry of Health figures reveal that nearly 4,300 Yemeni children have been killed by the US-Saudi-Emirati killing machine, while hundreds of thousands of Yemeni children are malnourished. The lives of dozens of children are threatened, suspended between life and death in light of the fuel crisis and the scarcity of capabilities and the continuation of criminals in their aggression and siege.

The lives of thousands of premature babies in Yemen are contingent on whether the electricity remains or goes out in light of the fuel crisis and the continuation of the aggression and siege.