[ad_1]
In the shadow of the corona pandemic, the world’s most serious humanitarian crisis has worsened. Dr. Anna-Marit Löfmark has just returned from Yemen. – All are holes from the noise, she says.
Dr. Anna-Marit Löfmark, Médecins Sans Frontières.
In the middle of the night, Anna-Marit Löfmark’s phone rings. You are asked to come down from the house onto the hospital. Just awake, she rushes down to the emergency room.
There lies a young man, with no cohesive skull bones. We treated him even though he was beyond rescue, because a doctor was threatened with death by the patient’s relatives.
This is one of the memories that Anna-Marit Löfmark will soon forget from her time as an anesthetist in the port city of Aden. The city is located on the southwest coast between the capital Sanaa in the north and the Gulf of Aden that separates Yemen from the Horn of Africa in the south.
– This bombed city. All are noise holes. It is a wonderful mix of different buildings in different conditions, most in a sand-colored shade. The landscape is spectacular with mountains that plunge into the water. Here you hardly see any woman on the streets and in traffic, the law of the jungle applies.
The war in Yemen has been going on since 2015 and has been described by the UN as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Here Anna-Marit Löfmark worked for Doctors Without Borders for seven weeks. She has worked as a doctor for 20 years, this was her second assignment to the organization.
– Since I was little, I have dreamed of making efforts for those who are having a hard time in the world. I believe that all people have the right to receive care regardless of their gender or background.
In March, the UN Security Council warned that the humanitarian situation in Yemen had worsened. It was estimated that 22.2 million people needed help, an increase of 3.4 million in one year. Medical care is in shambles as a result of the war. In recent years, the population has been affected by various infectious diseases: cholera, malaria and dengue. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating consequences.
Following a failed donor conference in June, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that most major UN operations could be forced to close. According to Pieter-Jan van Eggermont, humanitarian adviser at Médecins Sans Frontières, the effects of the UN’s financial problems are already visible.
– We have seen how several health centers supported by the UN have begun to close, or reduce their operations in the areas where we work. It is very serious.
Médecins Sans Frontières has 2,500 employees and 12 hospitals or health centers of its own in Yemen. Anna-Marit Löfmark worked in a trauma hospital run by the organization. She is deeply impressed by the locally employed staff who fight to save lives every day in dire circumstances.
– Everyone who comes has some kind of physical trauma. Most of the people we treated had open fractures or abdominal and thoracic injuries after car accidents or gunshot wounds. We receive between 10 and 15 patients every day.
TT: What are you most proud of about your time in Yemen?
– We rescued a father of a family who came to us with a serious blood poisoning after an abdominal injury. The patient wavered between life and death for several days. When she finally woke up and smiled at us, I was very proud, says Anna-Marit Löfmark.
The conflict in Yemen
The Republic of Yemen was formed when North and South Yemen merged in 1990. After just a few years, the conflict began to bubble. One of the reasons was opposition between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
Yemen is a clan-based society with a weak central power and great access to weapons. The country is also a stronghold for Islamist groups.
Fighting between the government and the Houthi Muslim Shiite rebels has been going on since 2004.
Since 2015, there has been a full-blown war with the neighboring states involved. The capital is controlled by Iranian-backed rebels, who are fighting the government bombing of a Sunni alliance led by Saudi Arabia. The United States, in principle, supports Saudi Arabia.
In December 2018, peace negotiations were held in Sweden. Even the major powers that fueled the conflict agreed to impose a ceasefire in the city of al-Hudayda. The parties also promised to withdraw their forces from the city. The belligerent groups have so far been reluctant to fulfill all their promises.
The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic has posed new challenges for all parties.
Source: Landguiden / UI.
