Hospital in Yemen’s Taiz warns of collapse in days because of Houthi siege

Doctors at the Republican Hospital in Taiz have warned that the facility could be forced into a complete shutdown within days as the Houthi siege of the Yemeni city chokes off fuel, medicines and oxygen, Al Jazeera reports.

Dr Essam Mahyoub Dahan, director of the hospital's dialysis centre, said staff had been forced to shorten treatment sessions for the 270 patients who regularly receive dialysis there. He warned the remaining stocks of specialised dialysis solutions were close to running out, telling Al Jazeera: "These measures are not effective for many patients ... The only solution is to end the siege."

The Yemeni Ministry of Health's quarterly delivery of supplies, which was due earlier this month, never arrived because of the siege, which began in the first week of October after Houthi advances in the Taiz countryside, the report says.

Deputy director-general Dr Shaheed al-Ameri said a large part of the suffering stemmed from diesel shortages — hospitals depend on diesel generators because the city's electricity infrastructure was destroyed during the 11-year war and never restored. He warned the hospital faced "a complete and comprehensive collapse" if conditions continued, and said some departments had already suspended operations.

The World Health Organization said 42 health facilities in Taiz had reported severe shortages of essential supplies, while the United Nations warned the city's health system was close to collapse and urged the Houthis to allow humanitarian assistance and essential goods in without obstruction. On Thursday, Amnesty International called on the Houthis to reopen vital roads into and around the city, saying the closure of the main Taiz-Aden road threatened hundreds of thousands of civilians. The source carries no Houthi response.