HajjahSaving Lives and Improving Health Conditions in the Skaba and Al-Hamariin Area

Providing Medical Equipment and Supplies Helps Health Facilities Deliver High-Quality Services to Patients

Adel Al-Baoua - Thursday, 01 February, 2024

The health unit had been closed for several years, forcing patients in the Skaba and Al-Hamariin isolation area to travel long distances to reach the nearest health facility.

The health unit serves about 4,000 beneficiaries from the isolation area and neighboring villages, according to the population data determined by the Public Health and Population Office in Hajjah Governorate.

The Skaba and Al-Hamariin isolation area is one of the areas of Keeda'na District, but the closure of the health unit, except for some basic services due to its lack of the necessary medical equipment and supplies for operation, exacerbated the suffering of the population and contributed to the deterioration of the health situation in the area due to the distance of health facilities and the inability of most people to transport their patients over rugged and remote roads to reach distant medical facilities outside the district, whether the Saudi Hospital in Hajjah City or the health unit in the Bani Al-Shumai area in Mabein District.

Dr. Nabila Suhail, Director of the Public Health and Population Office in Keeda'na District, says, "The health unit in the Skaba and Al-Hamariin isolation area was semi-closed and provided very limited services for a long time due to the lack of operational requirements such as furniture, equipment, medical supplies, and others."

In 2023, the National Foundation for Development and Humanitarian Response (NFDHR) intervened in Keeda'na District to rehabilitate, operate, and support 6 health facilities within an integrated project in the field of food, health, nutrition, water, and sanitation with the support of the Yemen Humanitarian Fund (YHF). The Skaba and Al-Hamariin unit was one of the targeted facilities.

The NFDHR rehabilitated the health unit and provided medicines, medical equipment and supplies, operating expenses, financial incentives for health workers, and training. The health unit resumed receiving patients daily, treating them, and providing them with free medicines, which had a positive impact on the health situation in the area and alleviated the suffering of patients who used to pay large sums of money to reach distant health facilities.

During the period from April to December 2023, the health unit in the Skaba and Al-Hamariin isolation area provided its services to 5,431 people, including nutrition services and treatment of malnutrition among children and pregnant women, integrated child health care services, and immunization services, among others.

Dr. Nabila Suhail adds, "Supporting and operating the health unit will have a direct impact on increasing the rate of children receiving routine vaccinations, treating children and women suffering from malnutrition, and providing high-quality primary health care services in general."