Dialysis center in Taiz may shut down within days due to Houthi siege — Al Jazeera
The dialysis center at the Republican Hospital in Taiz, Yemen, may cease operations within a few days due to shortages of diesel fuel and specialized dialysis solutions. Due to the lack of resources, medical staff have already reduced the duration of procedures for patients with kidney failure from four to two and a half hours, Al Jazeera reports.
Issam Mahyoub Dahan, head of the dialysis center, said that shortening the sessions makes it possible to keep the center operating for as long as possible, although this amount of time is insufficient for patients. According to him, supplies of specialized dialysis solutions have nearly run out. The center regularly provides treatment to 270 patients.
Patients with kidney failure at risk
The Taiz governorate health authority warned in a statement on October 12 that restrictions on the supply of essential goods could endanger the lives of 1,110 patients with kidney failure. Hospitals in the governorate perform approximately 210 dialysis procedures daily.
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The next shipment of medical solutions from Yemen's Ministry of Health, which usually arrives once every three months, did not arrive in early October. According to the outlet, the siege of Taiz resumed in the first week of October after Houthi advances in rural areas of the governorate. Amnesty International called on the Houthis to open key roads to and around the city, including the main route between Taiz and the port city of Aden.
Fuel shortage affects hospitals
Taiz hospitals depend heavily on diesel generators because the city's electrical infrastructure was destroyed during the war and has not yet been restored. Shaheed al-Ameri, the Republican Hospital's deputy general director for technical affairs, said diesel reserves ran out at the start of the siege, forcing the hospital to buy fuel on the black market almost daily at prices five times higher than before the siege.
On October 22, the WHO warned of critical shortages of fuel, oxygen, medicines and medical supplies in Taiz governorate. Forty-two medical facilities in Taiz city reported severe shortages of essential resources. The organization estimates that hospitals and ambulances need at least 156,000 liters of fuel per month. The diesel shortage also threatens medical oxygen production, water supply, vaccine storage and sanitation services.
