On Friday April 27, 2018 at 10:40 PM, an airstrike from the Saudi led coalition hit the National Blood Transfusion and Research Center of the Al Sabeen Hospital, a building located 65 feet from the First Physiotherapy Center, where Humanity & Inclusion, which works under the name ‘Handicap International’ in Yemen, is providing support.
No one was killed or wounded in the strike. In 2017, however, explosive weapons killed or injured 2,169 people (77% were civilians) in the country.
Despite being on a no-strike list, the center was hit. It has limited operational capacity.
HI is providing functional rehabilitation and psychosocial support in eight health facilities in Sana’a city and Sana'a governorate, as well as assistive devices and recently artificial limbs and braces to war wounded persons and to the most vulnerable. Among these eight health facilities that HI has been supporting since August 2017, HI specifically supports the First Physiotherapy Center located in the complex of Al Sabeen Hospital, one of the major hospitals of Sana’a.
STOP BOMBING CIVILIANS
HI condemns this airstrike and calls on all parties to effectively protect health facilities, their staff, and their patients in the full respect of de-confliction process.
With its "Stop Bombing Civilians" campaign, HI is calling on all parties to take immediate action to reduce harm and increase the protection of civilians living through conflict, by stopping the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and by providing victims with assistance, including affected communities.
DONOR IMPACT
Since 2015 and the start of the conflict, HI donors have provided more than 15,000 physical therapy sessions and distributed more than 10,000 assistive devices.