News - Yemen: Health in Yemen needs about 20 years to overcome the psychological and health effects of the blockade and aggression, the spokesman for the Ministry of Health Dr. Naguib Al-Qubati affirmed on Tuesday.

Al-Qubati added that 10 million Yemeni children were born and raised under siege and bombing since 2015.

For his part, the head of the Supreme Medical Committee explained that cancerous tumors and diabetes in Yemen have exceeded the international standard in prevalence during the years of siege and aggression.

He explained that thousands of patients who cannot be treated in Yemen are unable to afford the cost of traveling abroad for treatment.

"The US-Saudi aggression refused to grant entry permits to Arab and Indian medical staff to come to Sana'a to help patients who were unable to travel," he said.

The Director General of Air Transport Mazen Ghanem confirmed that the travel of 50 thousands Yemenis within 11 months is a number that does not cause the UN envoy to be proud, as it represents only 12 days of movement at Sana'a Airport before the siege.

In this regard, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health Dr. Ali Jahf stated that the blockade forced families to focus their priorities on providing food and delaying health needs.

He stress that the health sector needs a comprehensive opening and an end to the blockade in order to repair itself and raise the level of medical services for the community.

The US-Saudi aggression imposes a suffocating blockade on Yemen and closes ports and airports to increase the suffering of the Yemeni People and create deteriorating living and economic conditions. It is trying to barter the humanitarian aspect to obtain political and military gains at the expense of the Yemeni People.

The blockade has caused tremendous suffering for millions of Yemenis who are largely dependent on imports of food, fuel and medicines. It is one of the main reasons for the large-scale humanitarian crisis in the country that has pushed millions of Yemenis toward starvation and death due to lack of medical supplies, prompting the UN to call it the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

On 9 August 2016, the Saudi-led coalition imposed restrictions on Yemen’s airspace resulting in the closure of Sana’a airport to commercial flights, trapping millions of Yemenis in a war zone and preventing the free movement of humanitarian and commercial goods from entering through this route.

As a result, thousands of Yemenis with long-term health conditions such as cancer, kidney, liver and blood conditions have died while waiting for treatment unavailable in Yemen.

The closure of the airport has also led to an almost complete halt to commercial cargo such as medicine, medical supplies and equipment coming into the country. Coupled with restrictions on Hodeidah port, this has caused prices of some medicine to double, making it unaffordable for most of the population and further contributing to the decline of Yemen’s health system, already decimated by the aggression.

With the beginning of the truce in last April, the aggression tried to evade its commitment to open Sana'a airport and make flights only to one destination, Jordan, and for a very limited number.

Sana'a confirmed more than once that the continued closure of Sana'a airport proves the lack of seriousness of theUS-Saudi aggression to bring peace to Yemen.