A mother is sitting next to her child who is treated in cholera treatment centre. "I came all the way from Khoukha district in Al Hudaydah governorate to Mokha cholera treatment centre seeking for treatment for my son Mohammed after he's been sick for weeks." Yemen, May 2024. © Mario Fawaz/MSF
The cholera treatment center in Aden city. Yemen, May 2024. Mario Fawaz/MSF
Responding to the surge of cases
Doctors Without Borders teams launched a response in eight governorates, providing medical treatment for patients, training for medical and non-medical staff, donations of medical supplies, and carrying out health promotion activities.
One and a half year old Amat was falling in and out of consciousness. Her fever wasn’t going down, and she had diarrhoea. Her mother rushed her to a health centre, then another, where she was misdiagnosed and thus given the wrong treatment. When she wasn’t getting better, she was referred to Doctors Without Borders' treatment centre in Mokha.
“My village is three hours away from Mokha. We cannot afford the expensive cost of treatment in the nearby clinic,” says Amat’s mother.
Although acute watery diarrhoea has been a recurrent disease in Yemen for years, such a surge in the number of cases poses a risk to the lives of people who already have limited access to healthcare.
Meanwhile, Osama was suffering from severe dehydration and had to leave his kids at home to seek healthcare. He came over from Taiz governorate to the nearby Ibb governorate, where we run a diarrhoea treatment centre inside the Doctors Without Borders-supported Al-Qaida hospital in Kilo.
Over at Hajjah governorate, we opened a 60-bed diarrhoea treatment centre in a school five minutes away from the Doctors Without Borders-supported Abs general hospital.
“Our centre is the only place providing treatment to acute watery diarrhoea patients in this big district,” says Dr Evangelina Lauxmann, Doctors Without Borders Medical Team Leader in Abs project. “Acute watery diarrhoea, although treatable, poses a risk to patients with comorbidities and pregnant women who face an increased chance of foetal mortality.”
On top of that, the rainy season has started in many areas where we provide support, which will exacerbate the spread of this water-borne disease from contaminated water sources.
Considering the lack of funding allocated for responding to the spread of disease, many international organisations have limited resources to spare, which makes the response inadequate. Doctors Without Borders is one of the few organisations providing treatment to patients with acute watery diarrhoea and cholera - which can kill within hours if left untreated.
Medical team inside one of the cholera treatment centre’s tent providing medical care for a patient. Yemen, May 2024. © Athmar Mohammed/MSF
In Aden, in collaboration with the health authorities, we run the only cholera treatment centre in the city, equipped with 70 beds, and located inside the Doctors Without Borders-supported Al-Sadaqa hospital. The centre is running at full capacity while the number of patients is steadily increasing.
“There is a significant need for additional actions to counter the rising numbers,” says Federica Franco, Doctors Without Borders Head of Mission in Yemen. “We emphasise the importance of preventative measures such as the provision of safe water, sanitation and hygiene practices, extensive health promotion efforts, to effectively address this situation.”
In many areas where we are responding, if the number of patients exceeds our ability to treat them, Doctors Without Borders faces a challenge of finding and training medical, paramedical, and logistical staff to maintain patient treatment activities.
Without wide-scale water and sanitation activities in the most affected governorates, and in the absence of community outreach activities for sensitization on proper hygiene practices and early detection of patients, the surge of acute watery diarrhoea cases is expected to return in waves over the coming months.
Between April and May, Doctors Without Borders treated more than 10,500 patients in different parts of Yemen.
Doctors Without Borders in Yemen
Doctors Without Borders has been working in Yemen continuously since 2007. Doctors Without Borders is present in 13 governorates providing medical support to people living in precarious conditions with limited access to healthcare.
In Taiz governorate, in collaboration with the health authorities, Doctors Without Borders runs two diarrhoea treatment centres; in Taiz Houban inside the Doctors Without Borders-supported mother and child hospital, and in Taiz city inside the Doctors Without Borders-supported Al-Jumhouri hospital. We opened a cholera treatment unit in Mafraq, and a cholera treatment centre in Mokha set up inside Doctors Without Borders’s field hospital.
Elsewhere in Yemen, we are running acute watery diarrhoea treatment centres in Al-Wehda hospital in Dhamar governorate and in a charity centre in Ad-Dahi, Al-Hudaydah governorate. We established oral rehydration points in both governorates inside primary healthcare centres we support.
In Abs, Hajjah governorate, we opened a diarrhoea treatment unit inside Abs general hospital, then moved activities to a treatment centre in a school five minutes away from the hospital.
In Kilo, Ibb governorate, we opened a diarrhoea treatment centre inside the Doctors Without Borders-supported Al-Qaida hospital. In Ataq, Shabwa governorate, we are running a cholera treatment centre in collaboration with the health authorities. In Marib governorate, we established oral rehydration points in two primary healthcare centres we support.
