Yemen hospitals overwhelmed by surge in war casualties, Red Cross warns

Hospitals across Yemen are struggling to cope with a sharp rise in war casualties ​as intensified fighting along multiple front lines ‌strains its already fragile health system, the Red Cross said on Wednesday.

Front-line hospitals in areas including Marib, Taiz ​and Yemen’s Red Sea coast were seeing unprecedented ​numbers of weapon-wounded patients, with some facilities ⁠admitting more than 700 casualties in a single ​week, according to the humanitarian agency.

More than 200,000 people ​have been displaced from their homes since fighting in the country began in recent weeks, sparked by renewed fighting between ​the Iran-backed Houthi group and Saudi-backed government ​forces in Yemen, according to the United Nations International Organization ‌for ⁠Migration.

“Trauma care staff are under enormous pressure,” ICRC health coordinator Feras Abusamra said in a statement.

Only a small proportion of Yemen’s functioning health facilities ​are capable ​of providing ⁠comprehensive trauma care, he said, while hospitals face large numbers of wounded people amid ​shortages of surgical supplies, anaesthesia, oxygen ​and medicines.

Yemen’s ⁠health services, battered by more than a decade of conflict, economic crisis, displacement and disease outbreaks, ⁠may ​have limited capacity to absorb a ​new surge in mass casualties if fighting intensifies further, the ​ICRC warned.