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Health workers at Al-Sabeen Children’s Hospital in Sana’a Yemen are treating children affected by war, malnutrition, cholera, malaria, dengue and now also COVID-19. A donation of £25-£30 will mean that a doctor or nurse is able to work at reduced risk of contracting the virus – but donations are welcome of any amount!

Yemen has endured over five years of war. The United Nations has declared that Yemen is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with the population under intense hardship, extreme poverty and food shortages because of the war. We are fundraising in solidarity with health workers at Al-Sabeen hospital in Sana’a, Yemen who are working tirelessly (and often risking their own lives) to provide essential medical care and save lives.

On top of the ongoing war, flooding, severe malnutrition, poverty and outbreaks of cholera, dengue and malaria comes a new crisis: Yemen now also faces COVID-19. The UN says an alarming 17% of those infected with COVID-19 are dying and doctors warn a silent disaster is unfolding. Many hospitals are closed and in one hospital in Aden – in the south of Yemen - featured in a recent (June 2020) Channel 4 news documentary 80% of health workers are sick or have had symptoms. War, displacement and disease means Yemen has a severe shortage of health workers and working without PPE will put what remains of Yemen’s health care workforce at risk

Al-Sabeen Children’s Hospital is still open and is highly valued by the population. It’s brave and resilient staff need PPE urgently to reduce infection with COVID-19 and no organisation is currently funding them with the provision of PPE. Each set of PPE costs between £25 and £30, is re-usable and can be purchased in country. Al-Sabeen Hospital is the only centre in Yemen with a functioning Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and children can still access adequate medical care. Al-Sabeen services are provided for free, which is unusual in Yemen, and staff volunteers are well motivated but have not received salaries during the war and face severe shortages of supplies.

Al-Sabeen paediatric unit is led by alumni who completed their post-graduate studies at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool. They are senior Yemeni paediatricians and have shown incredible resilience in the face of war and multiple hardships and have been recognised internationally for their brilliance and commitment (see links below). They are organising staff with minimal resources and medical professionals are working without payment. We have worked with them for many years and have now organised the “Liverpool Friendship Group”. We are obviously very worried for the health of the medical team and patients at the moment.

Through this site and solidarity fundraising in Liverpool (habibti, staff at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool Yemeni’s community and many more) we have been sending £1,500 a month direct to senior paediatricians at Al-Sabeen to support staff to carry out their work and buy necessary equipment and resources. To date money raised has supported nurses and doctors (even things like making sure they are able to get to work), extended the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit and Emergency Services for children and been used to purchase a resuscitation set and lifesaving drugs.We aim to provide as much support as possible and to fundraise for emergency PPE and for the continuation of services. This is a life and death scenario on the ground every day, especially now with the spread of Covid-19.

If you feel inspired by their work – as we do -please urgently donate in solidarity with our brave, inspiring and committed Yemeni health workers colleagues.

Our monthly habibti_liverpool fundraising stall at Granby Street Market in Liverpool, is on hold due to COVID-19, but you can still purchase our stock online – please check out habibti_liverpool on instagram or Habibti Liverpool on facebook to learn more; and also sheablissliverpool for hand-made shea butter bath melts where a proportion of the proceeds go to Al-Sabeen Hospital. If you have other solidarity fundraising ideas please do get in touch.

Earlier reports:

Najla Al-Sonboli awarded an honorary degree at the 2019 Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine graduation where she was recognised as an inspirational leader, who has motivated her team to continue to work for the benefit of their young patients, providing voluntary services with minimal resources. https://www.lstmed.ac.uk/news-events/news/lstm-graduation-2019

Professor Najla Al-Sonboli was recognised as a Heroine for Health in 2018 at the World Health Assembly meeting in Geneva, for her tireless work in her home country of Yemen. https://www.lstmed.ac.uk/news-events/news/lstm-alumna-and-research-partner-recognised-as-a-heroine-for-health-at-who

In October 2018 Orla Guerin met Najla Al-Sonboli and the families of desperately sick children, who are unable to leave Yemen to seek the medical care they require: The Sick Children Trapped by Yemen’s War BBC World 26 October 2018

In March 2018 Najla Al-Sonboli contributed to a BBC World Service podcast, The Real Story: “What is fuelling war in Yemen:”

The desperate situation at the hospital was highlighted in October 2018 in reports for the BBC by Orla Guerin and in dialogue with Najla Al-Sonboli.