UAE introduces project to support Yemen's healthcare sector

Initiative led by the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation will bolster staffing levels and medical supplies and improve services

The Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation is leading a healthcare aid programme in Yemen. Photo: Wam

The UAE will help to recruit doctors and deliver crucial supplies for hospitals in Yemen under a major healthcare drive.

The Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation is leading the humanitarian initiative aimed at bolstering healthcare services available to the Yemeni people in Shabwa province.

The programme is being carried out under the directives of President Sheikh Mohamed.

Progress will be overseen by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Presidential Court, and Chairman of the Foundation.

"The project involves repairing, renovating, and stocking Shabwa hospitals with medical supplies, as well as staffing them with doctors and specialists to maintain their smooth operation and provide adequate healthcare services to the Yemeni people," state news agency Wam reported.

"Work on the project will commence in two phases: the first will comprise equipping and repairing four key hospitals that are a priority for the population, followed by the second phase, which will cover 12 other hospitals in several areas of Shabwa."

Salem Al Nasi, assistant undersecretary of the Shabwa Governorate, emphasised the importance of the project in supporting the health sector.

He expressed his thanks to the Khalifa Foundation, the humanitarian arm of the Emirates.

The project's launch ceremony was attended by a number of Yemeni officials and people.

Humanitarian drive

The UAE has over the years reiterated its commitment to providing essential health care to the people of Yemen.

The Emirates Red Crescent's mobile clinic in the Hadhramaut governorate of Yemen has provided healthcare services for almost 16,000 people, the humanitarian organisation said on Saturday.

The clinic, which provides free healthcare services and medicine for people living in far-flung areas, helped 543 people in July.

Dr Wajdi Al Akberi, the supervisor of the medical team, said 15,784 people have to date benefited from the clinic services.

The clinic is part of the UAE's humanitarian efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people and deliver healthcare services to remote areas, state news agency Wam reported.

In March, the ERC said more than seven million people had benefited from its Ramadan programmes in the Yemeni governorates of Shabwa, Hadramwt, Taez, Hodeidah, Aden and Socotra.

Clothes, food and other humanitarian aid were distributed in time for Ramadan in April.

The programmes follow a directive from President Sheikh Mohamed. The UAE has provided Yemen with more than $6.3 billion of aid since 2015.