Turkish agency supports Yemenis with 11 medical centers

By Elif Kucuk

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) established health centers in 11 different locations in Yemen with the support of philanthropists.

A total of 242,760 patients benefit from health centers annually.

The foundation also plans to open a mobile clinic in Yemen’s Ma’rib governorate -- approximately 120 kilometers (74 miles) east of the capital, Sanaa.

On the other hand, the foundation also carries out different health projects such as combating cholera, distributing medicines, glasses and hygiene packages.

Seventeen million people in Yemen urgently need humanitarian aid and 4.8 million are at risk of famine as humanitarian crisis deepens, a statement by the foundation said.

The people can only survive with the help of external aid in the war-torn country where the health services came to a stopping point.

The foundation supports the oppressed people by increasing its activities in the country in every new crisis.

Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The conflict escalated the following year when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies launched a massive air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains and supported the country’s pro-Saudi government.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict since 2016, according to UN estimates.

* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz