Sana'a: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Jamal Amer met today with Minister of Health and Environment Dr. Ali Sheiban to discuss mechanisms for coordination between the two ministries to break the blockade imposed on the health sector.
According to Yemen News Agency, the meeting addressed the issue of critical patients traveling abroad and explored practical proposals and alternatives to address the matter, particularly in light of the Special UN Envoy's office failing to fulfill its responsibilities regarding this humanitarian issue. The ministers emphasized the need to find solutions to end the severe suffering of patients both inside the country and those stranded abroad.
Minister Amer stressed that the health and safety of citizens is an absolute priority for the Foreign Ministry and reaffirmed ongoing diplomatic efforts to mobilize support and funding to rescue a health sector systematically destroyed over ten years of aggression and blockade. He strongly condemned the UN Secretary-General's decision to suspend humanitarian aid in Saada, describing it as politicized and serving the aggressors' agendas, while contradicting the humanitarian principles the UN claims to uphold, targeting one of the most vulnerable and needy governorates.
Minister Sheiban outlined the ministry's efforts despite limited resources, noting that many lives have been lost not solely due to illness but directly because of restrictions on commercial flights and the travel ban at Sana'a International Airport. He also highlighted another form of assault on the health sector: arbitrary measures by 'mercenaries' obstructing recognition of medical practice certificates issued by the Supreme Medical Council in Sana'a, which operates with full independence and professionalism.
Sheiban described these actions as cheap politicization of a purely technical and academic matter, amounting to a crime aimed at hampering medical personnel and suffocating the remaining health system.