Yemen hospitals overwhelmed by surge in war casualties, Red Cross warns

Hospitals across Yemen ​are struggling to cope with ​a sharp rise in ‌war casualties ​as intensified fighting along multiple front lines strains its already fragile health system, the ‌Red Cross said on Wednesday. Front-line hospitals in areas including Marib, Taiz and Yemen's Red Sea coast were seeing unprecedented numbers of weapon-wounded patients, ‌with some facilities admitting more than 700 casualties in a ‌single week, according to the humanitarian agency.

More than 200,000 people have been displaced from their homes since fighting in the country began in recent weeks, sparked ⁠by ​renewed fighting between ⁠the Iran-backed Houthi group and Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen, according to the ⁠United Nations' International Organization for Migration. "Trauma care staff are under enormous pressure," ​ICRC health coordinator Feras Abusamra said in a statement. Only ⁠a small proportion of Yemen's functioning health facilities are capable of providing comprehensive trauma ⁠care, ​he said, while hospitals face large numbers of wounded people amid shortages of surgical supplies, anesthesia, oxygen and medicines.

Yemen's health services, ⁠battered by more than a decade of conflict, economic crisis, displacement and ⁠disease outbreaks, may ⁠have limited capacity to absorb a new surge in mass casualties if fighting intensifies further, the ‌ICRC ‌warned.