Supporting Yemen’s health system

Programme description

Title: Strengthening the health system in Yemen
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Yemen
Overall term: 2018 to 2025

Context

Yemen’s health care system has collapsed since civil war broke out in 2015. Fewer than half of its health facilities are currently functioning. The population has little confidence in the quality of the services and is therefore reluctant to use them.

Health indicators have worsened significantly in recent years as a result. The situation is exacerbated by outbreaks of epidemic diseases, including cholera and COVID-19. A minimum level of health services is being maintained only with international support, but this is in itself causing increasing fragmentation in the health system.

German development cooperation has been supporting the health system in Yemen for more than 20 years, working in cooperation with the health authorities in the governorates to ensure uniform standards and quality in basic health care.

Objective

Selected hospitals and basic health services in Yemen are increasingly able to offer quality-assured services.

Approach

The project supports the health authorities in the governorates of Sana'a, Al-Mahweet, Hajjah, Ibb and Hadhramaut. It provides training, materials and equipment, and financial grants for health care facilities and local health authorities.

A nationally recognised quality improvement programme (QIP) provides training and equipment for health care facilities. A total of 142 facilities have successfully completed the programme to date.

Against the background of the ongoing war, the project is prioritising training in basic health care, hygiene and infection control. It is also implementing the QIP programme under difficult conditions. This is enabling health care facilities to continue delivering basic care. The project’s quality assurance work includes special measures relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project is a participant in the health cluster meetings of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and works with local non-governmental organisations, the Akkon-Hochschule Berlin and the German-Yemeni Physicians’ Association (diaspora).

Last update: September 2022