Yemen has been experiencing a brutal war and a siege that has severely restricted the commercial import of food and medicine since 2015. In addition, in August 2016, the central bank moved from Sana’a to Aden — which resulted in many government employees not receiving their salaries. The restriction of imports, especially of medicine, has created an undue burden of the families who have sick members. Medicine is scarce and, when it is available, is extremely expensive and beyond the means of the majority of the population. These families are forced to watch as their sick members suffer or die, helpless to provide for their needs.
The Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation has provided five cancer centers with medicine, in partnership with Americares. The foundation has also donated laboratory reagents to the Ministry of Health’s labs to confirm the H1N1 influenza outbreak. We also regularly work with medical organizations to ensure donations of essential medicines to Yemen. To learn about our other medical projects, check out our COVID-19 relief efforts.