Yemen: Alarm raised as MSF treats 35,000 children for malnutrition
A new report by Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) raises the alarm about malnutrition in Yemen.
In the conflict-hit country, people’s needs are far outstripping the existing treatment capacity, underscoring a deep humanitarian crisis.
Between January 2022 and December 2024, MSF-supported facilities treated 35,442 malnourished children under the age of five across five governorates: Amran, Saada, Hajjah, Taiz, and Al Hudaydah.
These figures reflect the ongoing struggle for families to buy food and access healthcare after years of conflict and instability, compounded by the country’s deteriorating economy.
“This is not the time for half-measures,” says Himedan Mohammed, head of operations for MSF Middle East.
“Children are arriving in increasingly critical condition. People can no longer wait for help that simply isn’t coming fast enough.
“If we don’t act now by boosting nutrition programmes, ensuring affordable transport to health facilities, and bringing care closer to people in need then we risk an even greater surge of malnutrition in the months ahead.”
An overwhelmed healthcare system
While MSF has scaled up its treatment capacity, it is unable to meet all the needs. Each annual malnutrition season leaves these facilities overwhelmed with children in need of care, with many also suffering from measles, cholera and acute watery diarrhoea.
Last September, during the annual peak malnutrition season, bed occupancy rates in MSF-supported facilities reached extremely high levels in most facilities.
In MSF-supported Al-Salam Hospital in Amran governorate, the bed occupancy rate soared to 254 percent that month, indicating extreme overcapacity. Healthcare staff are often forced to provide care for patients in crowded hallways and makeshift spaces.
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Aisha brought her five-month-old daughter Zahra’a to Al-Salam Hospital for lifesaving care:
“We travelled over two hours and spent 15,000 Yemeni riyals [about £47 GBP] to get here,” she says.
“With only one breadwinner in our family of 12, we can barely meet our daily needs, and the nearest health centres don’t have specialised departments to treat malnutrition.
“I am afraid to lose her, she is the only girl in the family. I hope she recovers soon and I hope more organisations will come here to support people, especially those who do not have enough food or income.”
Suspensions and reductions in food assistance programmes have intensified hardships for people across Yemen.
In 2023 and 2024, over 10,000 children received treatment at the MSF-supported facility in Ad Dahi Hospital, Hudaydah governorate. The Abs Hospital in Hajjah governorate recorded a staggering 200 percent bed occupancy rate in September 2024, followed by 176 percent in October – the highest levels in the last six years.
Malnutrition is aggravated by gaps in healthcare infrastructure and gaps in vaccination coverage, among other factors. According to World Health Organization, as of April 2024, nearly 46 percent of health facilities in Yemen were partially functional or completely out of service.
The impact of UK aid cuts
"The UK, as a key donor and champion of global nutrition, must not step away from its responsibility to Yemen. Recent cuts to UK aid threaten to undermine vital support for millions facing malnutrition. We urge the government to urgently reverse these reductions and prioritise funding for life-saving food aid, healthcare, and nutrition programmes. Yemen cannot afford further delays. The UK must act now to maintain its leadership and deliver for the most vulnerable."
Liz Harding, MSF UK's Head of Humanitarian Advocacy
A call to action
In view of the sudden and drastic reductions in humanitarian funding to Yemen, sustained donor engagement and flexible funding from major donors is crucial to address Yemen’s escalating humanitarian crisis.
Adequate and consistent funding, along with stronger partnerships between the Ministry of Health, donors, and partner organisations, will help revive healthcare centres and ensure they effectively serve local communities and the most affected locations.
MSF urges these stakeholders to expand community-based vaccination efforts in order to curb preventable diseases like measles, cholera and acute watery diarrhoea.
There is a need for urgent improvements in targeted food distribution programmes in Yemen. Efforts like these will ensure pregnant and lactating women as well as children under five receive the nutrition they need before their health is threatened.
Without swift collective action, Yemen’s most vulnerable people will suffer further under an overburdened health system and rising malnutrition rates.
MSF and malnutrition
Around the world, more than 232 million children suffer from malnutrition. The condition is directly linked to almost half of all deaths of children under five years old.