A severe fuel shortage in Yemen’s besieged city of Taiz has brought hospitals to the brink of collapse, as weeks of fighting between the country’s Houthi rebels and the Saudi-led coalition have disrupted vital supplies and worsened the humanitarian crisis, affecting hundreds of thousands of people.
One hospital has been forced to reduce the number of incubators in operation from 40 to just 10, putting the lives of newborn babies at risk. Unicef has secured nearly 8,000 cartons of life-saving therapeutic food, enough to support treatment services for around three months.
“There’s no oxygen, there’s no fuel to run the incubators, to keep the babies warm,” Reuters quoted Nada Ahmed, a nurse at the Yemeni-Swedish Maternity and Childhood Hospital, as saying. However, Pires warned that deteriorating security and movement restrictions could disrupt future deliveries and prevent families from reaching treatment centres.