After the conflict cast its shadow on Yemen, many families were forced to leave their areas of origin and flee to other locations for security and shelter. This was the case with Khaled's family, who fled their home in Al Hodeida to Aden for protection.
Living in a camp for internally displaced people (IDP) after they left their hometown, Khaled's father struggled to find work, leaving them in with limited resources and unable to afford even the most basic food like plain bread. Hunger severely impacted Khaled’s health, and symptoms of malnutrition -- swelling of the feet and hands with loss of appetite – began to appear.
When they arrived at the WHO-supported Al-Sadaqa Hospital, health staff quickly examined Khaled and decided to hospitalize him. "Khaled's case is considered severe. He needs direct and close monitoring. Due to the family's challenging financial situation, we preferred to admit him so that he could receive life-saving medical and nutrition care free of charge until he recovers," said Dr Ayman, Khaled’s doctor.
Khaled received daily health and nutrition care, including therapeutic milk and ready-to-use therapeutic foods, to replenish his depleted body. Health staff monitored his progress closely, offering guidance to Khaled's mother on how to improve her son nutritional status and improving feeding and dietary practices even during economic hardship—providing her with proper counseling on affordable, nutritious and locally available food options that would improve Khaled’s and his family’s nutritional status.
Al-Sadaqa Hospital is one of eight hospitals across Yemen that are supported by WHO with funding from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) under the project “Strengthening Essential Nutrition Interventions in Child Health Services for Sustained Mortality Reduction”, with the goal of combating malnutrition in Yemen through a package of nutrition-specific health interventions.
Story: Inas Hamam, Daniah Batayneh/ WHO-Yemen
Photos: © WHO-Yemen