Geneva: Yemen Calls for A Sustainable International Partnership to Save The Health Sector
Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
Yemen’s Minister of Public Health and Population, Qasim Buhaibeh, has called on the international community to strengthen its partnership with Yemen to support the health sector and enable it to overcome escalating challenges, transitioning from an emergency humanitarian response phase to a sustainable health development path.
Speaking in Yemen’s address to the 79th session of the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, Buhaibeh stated that the country’s health system continues to face severe pressures due to declining international funding, deteriorating infrastructure, ongoing population displacement, the migration of medical staff, as well as the influx of illegal migrants from the Horn of Africa, all of which increase the burden on limited health services.
He added that these challenges have directly impacted health indicators, with rising malnutrition rates, an increase in vaccine-preventable diseases, deteriorating mental health services, alongside the growing effects of climate change and the spread of vector-borne diseases.
The Minister praised the support provided by the World Health Organization and health sector partners to Yemen, explaining that existing partnerships have contributed to operating more than 60 percent of health facilities, supporting primary healthcare services, immunization, nutrition, and maternal and child health programs, as well as enhancing emergency response capacities and operating central public health laboratories.
Buhaibeh noted that the Yemeni government has begun implementing the National Health Strategy for 2026–2030, which aims to promote sustainable health development, including establishing a national sustainable health financing fund in partnership with donor and supporting entities.
The Yemeni minister emphasized the importance of continued technical support from the World Health Organization and international partners to help the health system address current challenges and improve the level of health services provided to the population.
