A trip for life: sustaining life-saving health services in priority governorates of Yemen
15 August 2023 – While pregnant and waiting for the day she could finally hold her new child in her arms, she was faced with the devastating news of her medical diagnosis instead. Louza Saleh, from Sa’adah governorate, was pregnant with her third child when she started to feel extremely sick and lost her ability to walk. She was rushed to the hospital, where she was told the devastating news of her diagnosis of renal failure.
“My sickness started during my pregnancy, I bled a lot and didn’t know what was wrong. I became sicker each day, I lost my ability to walk, work and lead a normal life. That was when I doctors told me that I have a kidney failure and need to start doing dialysis sessions,” said Louza.
Improving quality of care: Yemen's pathway to universal health coverage
20 July 2023, Aden | Sana’a – Quality of care is critical to improve health outcomes, patient satisfaction and cost-efficiency in health service delivery. That’s why WHO and the World Bank, via the Emergency Human Capital Project (EHCP), are collaborating with health authorities in Yemen to enhance the quality of health services using a multi-pronged approach.
In 2022 and 2023, five workshops were conducted in Aden and Sana’a to develop a situation analysis of quality of health care in Yemen. The workshops engaged 270 key focus group members (24% female) from community, facility, district, governorate and central levels. The feedback and insights from the focus groups revealed significant gaps in planning and quality-related regulations, weak organizational structures, a lack of qualified staff, poor financing and a weak information management system. Patient safety was also highlighted as an urgent priority. Ms Fullah Al-Akshar, Quality Manager at Jeblah Hospital in Ibb, appreciated the workshops, explaining “quality of care must be a priority for all health facilities”.
The resulting situation analysis will be used as a key reference in developing Yemen’s first ever national quality of care strategy. WHO Representative to Yemen, Dr Arturo Pesigan, explained the significance of this approach: “Developing a national quality of care strategy will be a huge step forward that will serve as a crucial foundation for reaching universal health coverage and rebuilding resilience among the Yemeni people. The strategy will encompass healing, dignity and hope, paving the way for improved health services.”
In recent years, WHO has also worked with health authorities to develop national quality standards and a quality indicator tool. In 2022, WHO engaged 30 hospitals and 43 primary health care centres to self-assess how well they adhered to quality standards. The self-assessment showed that only 38% of hospitals were fully applying the standards, with 47% partially applied, and 15% not applied. At primary health care level, application was lower, with 30% fully applying standards, 41% partially and 30% not applying. Concerns raised during the self-assessment included the lack of annual plans and budgets (37%) and an absence of infection prevention and control (IPC) programmes (30%). WHO then started working with the facilities to develop and implement quality improvement plans and projects based on their self-assessment results.
In 2022–2023, 23 hospitals experienced a transformation in quality of care, thanks to WHO support. These hospitals now have appointed dedicated quality officials and introduced training for staff in quality and IPC programmes, funded using the hospital’s own resources. In addition, some hospitals have developed and are starting to implement quality policies and procedures. Progress is regularly monitored through virtual quarterly review meetings by WHO and Yemen’s Ministry of Public Health and Population, which have helped to streamline information-sharing and reduced costs by limiting the need for resource-intensive face-to-face meetings.
In the coming months, WHO will continue working on quality of care at multiple levels, including guiding implementation of quality improvement plans at the facility level and consolidating inputs from stakeholders towards drafting the first national quality of care strategy, expected to be finalized before the end of 2023. This strategy will provide a key framework for improved quality of care, leading to better health services for the Yemeni population.
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Advancing health, rebuilding knowledge
Yemen’s heroes—the key to sustainable health outcomes
Multidimensional poverty, economic deterioration, illiteracy, and security, all remnants of a prolonged conflict, have coalesced into a forgotten crisis that has gripped millions of Yemenis, who continue to suffer from the highest rates of chronic malnutrition and poor health in the world.
“I’ve been a doctor at the therapeutic feeding centre since day one. I work with severe acute malnutrition cases referred from the hospital’s emergency department and from other hospitals in Aden and nearby governorates,” says Dr. Mohsen Saleh, a pediatric doctor at Al Sadaqah Hospital. The hospital admits an average of 60 SAM cases each month for immediate and urgent treatment.
WHO and USAID launch a new program to strengthen Yemen’s health system
ADEN, June 13, 2023 – Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have jointly announced a new one-year, USD1.89 million program to more sustainably integrate COVID-19 vaccines and medical oxygen supplies into primary health care (PHC) services of Yemen.
The USAID-funded program will support the operations and running costs of eight oxygen plants, with a focus on delivering COVID-19 care to critically ill patients in the intensive care units (ICUs) of at least five referral hospitals. It will also enable WHO to train ICU personnel to better deliver life-saving care, and to strengthen local capacities to increase COVID19 vaccine uptake in vulnerable communities.
“We are transitioning our COVID-19 assistance from the earlier emergency response activities to a longer-term approach which integrates COVID-19 care into the overall health system,” said USAID Country Director for Yemen Kimberlee Bell. “In coordination with our Yemeni health partners, USAID has provided assistance in the past to improve local health systems. Today we are thrilled to announce these two new contributions which will improve lifesaving health services for the Yemeni people.”
“Thanks to our continuing partnership with USAID, WHO will be able to to scale up access to quality care by severely ill patients suffering from COVID-19 and other diseases in five referral hospitals across four governorates – Aden, Hadramout, and Marib and Taiz,” said Dr Arturo Pesigan, WHO Representative to Yemen. “Our partnership with USAID is also critical for transitioning WHO’s support to Yemen’s health systems from emergency relief to more sustainable programming.”
USAID funding to WHO during 2021 and 2022 supported the provision of medical oxygen for more than 1 million patients at 25 hospitals and other medical facilities. USAID, through WHO, also helped deploy vaccination teams who provided COVID-19 vaccination and outreach to remote communities.
Nine years of intensive conflict has left over two-thirds of Yemen’s population (21.6 million people) in present need of humanitarian assistance. Yemen’s deteriorating economy, high food insecurity and recurring disease outbreaks have all but collapsed the country’s health system. Currently, 46 percent of Yemen’s health facilities are non-functioning or partially functioning due to shortages of staff, funds, electricity, medicines, supplies, and equipment.
About WHO: Since 1948, The World Health Organization (WHO) has been the United Nations agency dedicated to advancing health for all, so that everyone, everywhere can attain the highest level of health. WHO leads global efforts to expand universal health coverage, direct and coordinate the world’s responses to health emergencies and connect nations, partners and people to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable.
Media contacts
Christine Cool
External Relations/Resource Mobilization (EXR) Officer
World Health Organization (WHO), Yemen
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