Hunger is spreading in Yemen after many donor countries have cut back on critical humanitarian aid. At least 60,000 children are now acutely malnourished and require urgent care. One of them is Nuha, who with her mother has endured the extremes of poverty and food insecurity.
Yemen’s intractable political, military, and humanitarian crisis continues to exact a heavy toll on the country’s health system – and on families now facing unrelenting hunger.
“I can get by on one meal a day so my children have two,” said Rana (not her real name). “I can bear the hunger, but they cannot. Every day I wake up not knowing if I will be able to secure even my one meal for the day, while I am always afraid of losing my children.”
Rana’s three-year-old daughter Nuha is the youngest of her 10 children. The oldest is 22. The family’s health and wellbeing took a dramatic turn for the worse after Rana’s husband became physically incapacitated and unable to provide any income. Just a few weeks later, Rana and Nuha arrived to a WHO-supported therapeutic feeding center (TFC) in the city of Aden. They arrived with perhaps only hours to spare – Nuha was dangerously close to death from severe acute malnutrition (SAM).
“My child was treated and recovered, and we returned home,” Rana explained. “But I was unable to feed her well, and she became sick again and relapsed – this is not the first time I’ve been here,” Rana said.
Rana blames herself for her daughter’s malnutrition. “She is sick because I can’t feed her. And I think I would have lost her if not for the free and excellent treatment she has received here.”
Rana said that her other children are also malnourished, one of them severely. That child also suffers from cerebral atrophy – that is very likely linked to his lack of consistent nutrition.
WHO and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) are supporting the therapeutic feeding centers (TFCs) in Aden and elsewhere with provisions of essential medicines, equipment, and training of health workers. PED/SAM kits (including essential drugs and equipment) have been allocated to these TFCs for treating individual cases of SAM with medical complications, as well as other pediatric cases. WHO and KSrelief are also partnering to train more health workers in severe acute malnutrition management and acute malnutrition prevention.
To date, nearly 93% of all of children treated at these TFCs have survived, and only 2% are known to have relapsed. WHO in partnership with KSrelief are continuing their urgent support to these TFCs while up to 19 million people are food insecure and an estimated 3.5 million pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under 5 are suffering from acute malnutrition.
For Rana and her family, their nearly unbearable living conditions are worsened further by continual sickness and suffering.
“We live and sleep outdoors, without a roof to shade us from the heat. My husband needs back surgery and is in great pain. My oldest son is handicapped and also needs surgery. All of my children are frequently sick, sometimes with convulsions.”
Asked what she wishes for her children, Rana answered without hesitation.
“I wish that my children can be healthy and have regular meals. I wish that they can go to school, and live a decent life. I wish that I can save them from pain and suffering, and that our misery can be turned into happiness.”
In spite of the catastrophic suffering that her family has endured, Rana is resilient, determined, and even thankful. “I’m very thankful that WHO is on our side and supporting our family,” she said. “We are treated very well here, the facilities are clean, and all the services and medicines are free. We have no money for anything, we can’t afford food or medical treatment, but here it is provided.”
Story: Laila Asda, Kevin Cook / WHO-Yemen
Photos: Nessma Khan, Kevin Cook / WHO-Yemen