Yemen: Attacks on Health May 2018 Newsletter
Summary Feb – May 2018
Despite efforts to renew peace talks, the Yemen conflict reached its third anniversary in March 2018 and has left 22 million people in need of humanitarian aid, nearly 9,500 dead, 55,000 injured, and two million displaced over the past three years. As fighting intensified in al-Hudaydah and Taizz Governorates, humanitarian agencies expressed increasing concern about the safety of civilians. Since December 2017, military operations have displaced another 130,000 people, exacerbating health and humanitarian concerns. There are few formal camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), and makeshift ones are rapidly creating health risks due to lack of adequate shelter, sanitation, and clean water. Flooding and cyclones on the southern coast have created shortages of medicines that, coupled with poor housing and sanitation, may increase the risk of new infections. This fact sheet draws upon data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), World Health Organization (WHO), UN Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), media reports, and original reporting on attacks on health care facilities.
What is an “attack” on health care?
PHR defines attacks on health care and personnel as any action by a state or non-state party to a conflict that disrupts the indiscriminate delivery of care to all wounded and sick, regardless of combatant status. These include:
• Attacks on hospitals, health clinics, ambulances, or other facilities via air/ground strikes;
• Shelling or any military activity causing physical damage to facilities or service disruption;
• Killing, kidnapping, or other bodily harm inflicted on health care professionals;
• Pressure, intimidation, or punishment of personnel for treating all wounded and sick without discrimination.
Since February 2018, PHR has received reports of 11 armed attacks against health care facilities and personnel, including two attacks on ambulances, and independently verified eight attacks through field sources and publicly available information.
Attacks on health infrastructure
PHR confirmed four attacks on health care facilities and personnel with field sources, totaling 12 verified attacks out of the 23 attacks reported in the past eight months. Previous reports stated that 39 hospitals were hit from March to October 2015, and that 50 percent of health care infrastructure was destroyed as of Dec 2017. Despite a decrease in airstrikes, armed attacks still strike hospitals and disrupt service.
