War blockade has prevented Houthis getting medicine, supplies

Jason Ditz

From cancer medicine shortages to that time all those diabetics died because no one could get insulin, Yemen’s medical system, especially in the Houthi north, is broken, with the Saudi naval blockade keeping the public barely fed and the hospitals unsupplied. This fueled fears from the start that they were among the least-ready for the pandemic.

And while Covid-19 arrived in Yemen somewhat late, it is as bad as many feared. Doctors Without Borders says now that many are getting sick, the death rates are high and people are dying alarmingly fast.

There are many reasons this could be. Yemenis are in poor health to start with from chronic malnutrition, and when they get sick hospitals don’t have the gear to treat them properly.

Officials on both sides of Yemen are underreporting the situation, likely afraid of causing a panic. Still, without access to treatment the toll will likely remain calamiously high – more casualties of an ugly war.

https://news.antiwar.com/2020/06/12/covid-19-deaths-soar-in-yemens-broken-health-system/