‘These children don’t know anything different’: Meet the Geraldton woman running a hospital in war-torn Yemen.

In 2022, MSF teams around the world continued to respond to crises, old and new. While COVID-19 was not the emergency it was in previous years, new challenges arose. The war in Ukraine escalated in February; the political, humanitarian and economic crises in Haiti deteriorated severely; cholera emerged on an exceptional scale in several countries. 

Rising childhood malnutrition in Yemen is causing preventable deaths, especially of children under the age of five. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been responding to seasonal and annual peaks across the country, in Hajjah, Al-Hudaydah, Saada, and Amran governorates.

 Malnutrition in Yemen usually peaks between June and September, but in 2022, MSF teams in several projects documented an early onset of the malnutrition peak in April or May. They’re expecting a prolonged malnutrition peak to continue until December.

Conflict in Yemen has been ongoing for more than six years. Marib, located in northeast on the edge of large deserts, is one of the active frontlines. The oil and gas rich area is located at a crossroads between the southern and northern regions, and is considered a key strategic location to control for the warring parties.

An airstrike carried out by the Saudi-led coalition on Yemen's Sa'ada City Remand Prison killed at least 82 people and injured 266, while the death toll is likely to increase as searchers comb the rubble.

The airstrike is only the latest in a drawn-out conflict that continues to have devastating impacts on the population. 

After more than six years of conflict, the Yemen crisis no longer makes top story headlines. But the war is not over, and the impact of this conflict on the wellbeing on those living in Yemen is extensive. 

Antonella Pozzi, mental health activity manager for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), discussed the mental health crisis in Yemen and the ways MSF is working to promote mental wellbeing.

Dr Khairil Musa, is a Sydney based emergency doctor who, in 2020, was sent as a field worker with Médecins Sans Frontières(MSF)/Doctors Without Borders to Yemen and later Iraq.

Dr Musa’s piece is an account of his time working in a COVID-19 treatment centre, run by MSF in Aden, Yemen.

Around the world, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams are working to ensure children receive the best healthcare possible. The stories below talk about the enormous challenges faced by these young patients and the impact of MSF programs on helping them survive and stay well. 

Malnutrition remains one of the major challenges in reducing child deaths, including in conflict-affected countries like Yemen. The six-year war in the country has had severe consequences for children.

For the intensive care team in Aden, southern Yemen, traumatic injuries are only one part of the story. Doctor Silvia Marchesi blogs about the dedication of a team striving to save lives in the midst of conflict.