Wounded Yemenis in the rehabilitation phase after being treated for various injuries and fitted with artificial limbs in a Saudi hospital. Inset: a wounded Yemeni being transported for treatment in the Kingdom (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Sulaiman Asharee, the general supervisor for the referral programme at the Saudi Ministry of Health, revelead to Asharq Al-Awsat that 2763 wounded members of the national Yemeni army and the Popular Resistance have been admitted to Saudi hospitals and have been treated and cared for. He explained that the King Salman centre will sign a joint contract with the International Red Cross for a sum of $10 million to treat the wounded in Yemen and support 4 artificial limbs centres in Yemen and a fifth centre in Ma’rib hospital in coordination with the Yemeni Ministry of Health. According to recent statistics, most of the wounded were taken to the southern regions of Sharurah, Najran, Jazan, Aseer, Ta’if, Al Bahah, Bisha as well as Riyadh and Jeddah.
Asharee, who is also the director of medical aid management at the King Salman Centre for Humanitarian Aid, explained that the Saudi Ministry of Health and the King Salman Centre for Relief and Humanitarian Aid have supported more than 400 medical staff in the southern regions since the beginning of the events in Yemen and these staff cover all specialisms and have the necessary equipment. 100 additional ambulances have also been provided to guarantee transport for the injured from the border gateway to the hospitals.
Asharee mentioned that the King Salman Centre provides the medical centres in the south with additional efficiency to deliver medical services on a permanent basis especially as most wounded and injured Yemenis prefer to be treated at Saudi hospitals because of the situation in their country and the lack of hospitals with the necessary equipment there due to the war.
The general supervisor for the referral programme at the Saudi Ministry of Health said that the medical services provided by Saudi hospitals include the fitting of artificial limbs for those who lost limbs during the war, especially in Najran General Hospital and Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City. The Ministry of Health and the King Salman Centre are also funding a new artificial limbs centre in Sharurah General Hospital and are supporting the existing centre in Najran General Hospital in order to support their Yemeni brothers at all times, and not during this crisis only.