Yemen’s health system could collapse in some areas, minister warns
Yemen’s health minister, Qasim Buhaibeh, warned to Al Jazeera that the country’s health system risks collapse in some areas as war-driven displacement and funding shortfalls force facility closures and shortages of medicines, supplies and fuel. Updated data through June 2026 show 19.3 million people need health assistance while only 17% of required funding for the response has been received.
Why It Matters
A failing health system would worsen humanitarian needs during ongoing conflict, reducing access to emergency, maternal and child care, vaccination and treatment for chronic conditions amid outbreaks of cholera, measles and polio. The gap in funding and suspended reporting from Houthi-controlled areas impede a complete national health response.
Key Facts
- Source: Al Jazeera interview with Yemen’s Minister of Public Health and Population Qasim Buhaibeh
- People needing health assistance (through June 2026): 19.3 million
- Share of required health response funding received: 17 percent
- Estimated proportion of health facilities operating at full capacity: Likely less than 50 percent (WHO had cited 60 percent)
- Displaced between June and Sept 22 (minister's figures): 134,550 people
Yemen’s health minister cautioned that parts of the country could lose all health services if the decline in funding continues, telling Al Jazeera that the sector cannot absorb additional waves of displacement amid the ongoing war. He said shortages of medicines, supplies and fuel have already led to the closure of health facilities and reduced service capacity.
Buhaibeh highlighted that emergency care, maternal and child health, vaccination and nutrition services, as well as dialysis and cancer treatment, are especially at risk. He cited health data updated through June 2026 showing 19.3 million people need health assistance, while only 17 percent of the required funding for the response has been mobilised.
The minister said the share of health facilities operating at full capacity has probably fallen below 50 percent, compared with a World Health Organization figure of 60 percent. He also reported that 134,550 people were displaced between June and September 22, with most new arrivals concentrated in Taiz, Lahij and Aden, placing extra strain on already stretched services.
Buhaibeh warned that suspended reporting from Houthi-controlled areas for nearly a year prevents authorities from assembling a complete national epidemiological picture. He added that displacement, widespread malnutrition and low vaccination coverage are overlapping with outbreaks of cholera, measles and polio; more than 27,000 confirmed measles cases were recorded in 2025, and about half of children under five suffer chronic malnutrition. The International Organization for Migration has also reported nearly 130,000 people displaced across seven governorates since early September fighting escalated.
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