INTERVIEW WITH THE HEAD OF MISSION IN YEMEN
"HOSPITALS ARE PLACES OF REFUGE AND HEALING, OUR PATIENTS AND STAFF NEED TO
FEEL SAFE"
Shiara hospital is the latest of more than one hundred health facilities affected by the conflict
ravaging Yemen
A week after a projectile hit the Shiara hospital in Razeh district in the north of Yemen, killing six
and injuring seven, Juan Prieto, general coordinator of MSF projects in Yemen, talks about the
situation in the district and in the country. The MSF supported Shiara hospital is the latest of more
than one hundred health centres and hospitals affected by bombings and airstrikes in the
international conflict ravaging the country, now in its tenth month.
What is the situation of the people injured by the blast?
Of the eight wounded initially, we transferred five who were in a more critical condition to the MSF-
supported hospital in Saada city. One of them has since been transferred to Sana’a for further
specialised treatment. Unfortunately, another victim passed away yesterday in Saada. We hope
the rest of the patients will recover soon. Organising appropriate care for the victims was our first
priority after the hospital was hit.
Do we have any news on the incident?
We are currently trying to get a better picture of what happened. We know that a projectile hit the
entrance of the hospital, which had already been destroyed by a previous attack against the
centre. The impact sent a lot of shrapnel flying which killed or seriously injured people in the area.
What is the current situation at the hospital?
People still consider hospitals a target and try to avoid them as much as possible. The only cases
that we are receiving are emergencies and mass casualties following attacks.
Up to now we have been able to restore the emergency room, stabilisation and referral services,
and we are struggling to get the maternity unit back to work. We are working with a reduced staff in
the hospital, focusing only on urgent medical needs. The facility is considered a dangerous place,
don’t forget that it has been hit three times in the last year.
Nevertheless, our staff have returned to their positions albeit apprehensively. They are more
determined than ever, given the situation in the country and the specific needs in Razeh, to
continue working for the population.
Shiara is the latest one, but many other medical facilities have been affected directly or
indirectly by the conflict. What are the consequences?
We have identified at least 130 facilities directly affected by the conflict, hit by missiles launched
from the ground or by airstrikes. We see the consequences now in Razeh, where services have
been disrupted or hospitals are in a state of disarray or have been forced to close down, unable to
serve the people in need of them.
Medical facilities that should be places of healing for the population, no longer seem to be safe for
the patients or for the medical staff operating in them, even when their work and their buildings
should be protected. As I say, it is not easy for the medical staff to go back to work when they feel
uneasy and threatened. It's a disaster.
What was the reaction of the team in Shiara?
The blast did not affect a functioning area of the hospital. Obviously, after the explosion, the main
concern of the team was to organise triage and referral for people in critical condition while
attending to the wounded. The patients at the hospital left the building, of course, but medical staff
went back to work as soon as they realised that it was over, that there were no more explosions
nearby. Patients also started returning to the centre just hours after the incident. Those that were
not in critical condition were sent to other areas and those needing stabilisation were prepared and
sent to Sadaa hospital.
We need to take into account that our medical staff have been working for seven months under
constant bo