Yemen Warns Its Health System Faces Collapse in Some Areas as Funding Dwindles

Yemen's healthcare network is teetering on the edge of full collapse in several regions, the country's top health official has cautioned, blaming a steady decline in international funding and the relentless strain of a prolonged conflict that shows no sign of easing. Minister of Public Health and Population Qasim Buhaibeh told Al Jazeera that some parts of the country may soon lose access to health services altogether if the financial shortfall persists, a prospect that would leave millions of vulnerable civilians without even basic medical care.

Buhaibeh explained that the sector is no longer in a position to absorb fresh waves of displacement triggered by ongoing fighting. According to the minister, the scarcity of resources has already forced a number of health facilities to shut their doors, while hospitals and clinics that remain open are grappling with acute shortages of medicines, medical supplies and fuel needed to keep operations running. The combination, he suggested, has pushed the system toward a breaking point from which recovery would be extremely difficult.

The minister singled out several critical services as especially endangered by the funding crisis. Emergency care, maternal and child health services, immunization and nutrition programmes, as well as dialysis and cancer treatment, are all at serious risk, he said. These are precisely the services on which Yemen's most vulnerable populations depend, and their loss would have immediate, life-threatening consequences for patients who have no alternative sources of care.

Citing health data updated through June 2026, Buhaibeh said an estimated 19.3 million people across Yemen now require health assistance. Yet funding for the humanitarian response has reached only 17 percent of the amount needed, leaving a vast gap between the scale of the need and the resources available to meet it. The shortfall means that even basic interventions are being rationed or suspended in many areas, and it raises the prospect of preventable deaths rising sharply in the months ahead.

The minister also said the share of health facilities operating at full capacity has likely fallen below 50 percent. That figure is lower than the 60 percent previously cited by the World Health Organization, suggesting a rapid deterioration in recent months. When fewer than half of a country's health facilities function normally, the ripple effects are felt across the entire system, from overwhelmed emergency rooms to overstretched maternity wards and understaffed clinics that serve remote communities.

Displacement is compounding the crisis. Buhaibeh pointed to figures indicating that 134,550 people were uprooted by the conflict between June and September 22, with the largest concentrations of newly displaced families in Taiz, Lahij and Aden. The sudden arrival of so many people in areas that already lacked adequate medical infrastructure has placed additional pressure on health facilities that were struggling long before the latest influx began.

The International Organization for Migration has similarly reported that nearly 130,000 people, equivalent to roughly 30,000 households, have been displaced across seven Yemeni governorates since fighting escalated in early September between the Iran-backed Houthis and forces loyal to the internationally recognized Yemeni government. The scale of that displacement underscores how quickly the humanitarian situation can deteriorate when front lines shift, and it highlights the difficulty of delivering health services to populations that are constantly on the move.

Buhaibeh also raised concerns about the quality of nationwide health data, revealing that reporting from Houthi-controlled areas has been suspended for nearly a year. Without those figures, authorities cannot construct a complete picture of the country's epidemiological situation, hampering efforts to detect and respond to outbreaks before they spread. The gap in surveillance is particularly dangerous in a country where infectious diseases can move rapidly through crowded displacement camps and weakened communities.

Adding to the alarm, the minister warned that displacement, malnutrition and low vaccination coverage are converging with outbreaks of cholera, measles and polio. He noted that more than 27,000 confirmed measles cases were recorded in 2025, a startling number for a disease that is preventable through routine immunization. He also said roughly half of Yemen's children under the age of five suffer from chronic malnutrition, a condition that leaves them far more susceptible to infections and far more likely to die from illnesses that would otherwise be treatable.

The overlapping crises described by Buhaibeh paint a bleak picture of a health system caught between rising demand and shrinking support. Humanitarian organizations have long warned that Yemen's medical infrastructure depends heavily on external financing, and any reduction in donor commitments translates almost immediately into closed facilities, unpaid staff and empty pharmacies. With funding at only a fraction of what is required, aid groups face difficult choices about which services to prioritize and which populations to leave without coverage.

The consequences extend beyond individual patients. When maternal health services falter, complications during pregnancy and childbirth become more common and more deadly. When dialysis and cancer treatment are disrupted, patients with chronic conditions face deterioration and death. When immunization campaigns are interrupted, outbreaks that had been brought under control can resurge, as the measles figures suggest is already happening. Each of these failures places additional burdens on a system that has few reserves left.

The warnings also carry implications for regional stability. Yemen's conflict has already driven large numbers of refugees across its borders, with neighboring Djibouti appealing to the international community for help in managing an influx of people fleeing the violence. A collapse of health services in parts of Yemen would likely accelerate displacement, pushing more families to seek safety and medical care beyond the country's borders and deepening the humanitarian emergency across the region.

For now, the minister's message amounts to an urgent appeal for renewed support. Without a significant increase in funding, he cautioned, some areas of Yemen could lose health services entirely, leaving millions of people without access to care at precisely the moment they need it most. The coming months will determine whether the international community responds quickly enough to prevent that outcome, or whether Yemen's already fragile health system is allowed to fail in some of its most vulnerable communities.