Al-Thawra Net/..
Airports are a lifeline for any health system, especially in countries that suffer from a lack of medical capabilities. In Yemen, Sanaa International Airport represents the main air port for patients to travel abroad to receive treatment, in addition to its vital role in bringing in life-saving medicines and medical supplies.
When the airport is closed or flights are prohibited, not only does travel stop, but also the entry of life-saving medicines and medical supplies stops, especially those related to kidney transplants, oncology treatment, open-heart surgeries, and medications for cancer and chronic diseases that patients constantly depend on.
The continued closure of the airport has serious health and humanitarian impacts, most notably the delay of critical surgical operations, which threatens the lives of many patients and increases the possibility of death. Cancer patients also face difficulty in obtaining treatment protocols that are not available at home, such as immunotherapy and targeted therapy, in addition to increasing the psychological suffering experienced by patients and their families under the fear of deteriorating health conditions, which exacerbates depression and anxiety among those with chronic diseases.
The closure also prevents the entry of medicines and medical supplies and a shortage of medications for chronic diseases: insulin, blood pressure, heart, kidney failure, epilepsy, and asthma. Their interruption causes diabetic coma, stroke, acute kidney failure, and epileptic seizures, as well as the interruption of cancer medications: Chemotherapy is sensitive to temperature and time, and delaying it for weeks reduces its effectiveness by 40-60% according to World Health protocols. All of this causes increased pressure on local hospitals that receive cases that were supposed to be treated abroad, so the death rate inside increases. Intensive care.
In this regard, the Minister of Health and Environment, Dr. Ali Shaiban, reiterated that the continued disruption of Sana’a International Airport is a crime against humanity and a blatant violation of humanitarian and international laws and conventions.
Dr. Shaiban stated in a statement to the Yemeni News Agency (Saba), that the closure of Sanaa Airport, which was targeted by the Zionist enemy, caused the absence and scarcity of most medicines and items that require special transportation conditions (refrigeration).
He stressed that the siege and closure of the airport caused thousands of patients to be deprived of medicines, including medicines for kidney transplants, blood products, hormonal and immunological medicines, resuscitation, anesthesia, blood clotting inhibitors, some diagnostic solutions, and others. He called on the United Nations and its organizations not to turn a blind eye to this catastrophic tragedy that claimed the lives of thousands of patients and is still claiming the lives of thousands more.
Dr. Shaiban pointed out that the forces of aggression do not give any humanitarian or moral considerations to the stifling siege they impose on the Yemeni people, the likes of which humanity has never witnessed, in light of shameful international and international silence.
Regarding the direct health effects, a report issued by the Ministry of Health and Environment, a copy of which was received by the Yemeni News Agency (Saba), explained that the continued closure of the airport led to a shortage of medicines and medical supplies, including life-saving medicines, anesthesia, blood products, medicines for genetic diseases, cancer, chronic diseases, kidney transplants, dialysis sessions, targeted medicines, laboratory and diagnostic solutions, as well as the cessation of the work of a number of local pharmaceutical factories due to the prevention of entry of raw materials and arbitrary procedures practiced by the mercenaries of the aggression in a non-smooth manner. And smooth entry of medicines and vital supplies.
The report indicated that hundreds of thousands of patients were prevented from traveling for treatment abroad and needed specialized treatment, especially oncology and heart surgery, in addition to preventing the entry of foreign medical missions that showed their willingness to perform delicate surgeries, pointing out that more than 90 percent of patients cannot travel due to economic conditions and arbitrary measures against patients at airports under the control of tools of aggression.
According to the report, there are eight thousand dialysis patients struggling with death as a result of the lack of their medications, confirming the death of five thousand dialysis patients as a result of the blockade and the lack of introduction of dialysis solutions and hemodialysis devices.
He stated that 100,000 cancer patients are fighting the disease as a result of the blockade, which has caused the absence of ten main types and a shortage of 60 percent of their medications, in addition to that more than 40,000 patients with thalassemia and hereditary hemolysis face the risk of death due to the scarcity of medications and the prevention of their entry through Sanaa International Airport, including iron withdrawal medications and their own solutions, confirming the death of 684 patients out of eight thousand and 430 who are continuing their treatment at the treatment center of the Yemeni Society for Patients. Thalassemia.
The report noted that the import rate had declined to 60 percent in the pharmaceutical sector due to arbitrary procedures, and that more than 83 importers who were providing more than 1,329 types of medicines had stopped importing, and the absence of many medications for hemophilia and leukemia diseases, with a shortage of 30 percent… indicating that there are 600 cases of leukemia cancer patients who are under treatment, including 200 cases that need to travel abroad for bone marrow transplantation.
According to the report, there are more than eight thousand and 685 cases that cannot be treated inside the country for the years from 2021 to 2025, and there are 77 thousand and 412 patients who need to travel abroad from 2018 to 2025 AD, and 15 thousand and 482 cases are unable to travel abroad due to the financial situation, while there are 12 thousand and 251 cases unable to travel due to the siege on Sanaa Airport.
Regarding the number of patients who need to travel abroad in 2025, the report stated that there are 1,154 patients who need to obtain an atomic scan, 117 patients who have congenital heart defects, 65 who need a corneal transplant, 109 cases of liver failure, and three cases of bone marrow transplantation.
Therefore, patients have the right to life, health, food and medicine, an absolute human right that may not be infringed under any political or military pretext.
Closing the airport has direct consequences on people’s lives. Preventing the patient from traveling and preventing medicine from entering simply means “sentencing to slow death” for thousands of cases.
The solution begins with separating the humanitarian aspect from any political dispute, and opening a permanent humanitarian air corridor for patients and medicines, in accordance with United Nations resolutions and international humanitarian principles. Because the right to treatment and medicine is a fundamental right that cannot be waived.
