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CSSW Implementation, WHO Funding Combine to Awaken Dormant Shuqra Hospital

Shuqra Hospital was built in 2010 to serve Khanfir District, the largest by population in Yemen’s Abyan governorate, which lies along the coast of the Arabian Sea, just east of Aden. Abyan itself is a densely populated governorate by Yemeni standards, though its status as an important agricultural region has traditionally meant that its residents had to travel long distances as a matter of daily life, whether at harvest time or to seek medical attention. For many in the area, the nearest medical services lay 90km or more away: a distance that discouraged many from seeking routine medical care, and which cost the lives of many in need of emergency services.

But although the building was completed, Yemen’s ongoing civil war prevented the hospital facility itself from opening. In early 2011, a new front in the war opened in Abyan, disrupting the supply lines on which medical facilities depend and making it increasingly difficult for patients to travel to clinics and hospitals.

In this environment, Shuqra Hospital suffered the same fate as many other health facilities throughout Yemen: with transportation lines constantly interrupted and control of surrounding territories continually shifting, it had no reliable means of supplying itself. As hundreds of clinics and hospitals throughout Yemen crumbled, Shuqra Hospital never opened its doors. The years went by, the elements began to take their toll, and an increasing number of Khanfir’s residents suffered the consequences.

Those difficulties were visited on everyone, from residents of Khanfir District’s most remote villages to those living in Shuqra town itself. A car accident in January vividly underscored the problem. When three people were critically injured in a busy Shuqra neighbourhood, they faced a situation that in previous years would have almost certainly been fatal: a long trip, along roads of varying conditions, through regions that on any given day might be directly affected by the war.

That grim picture began to change on 15 July 2018, when the Charitable Society for Social Welfare (CSSW) secured funding from the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide critical medical services to three of Abyan Governorate’s most heavily populated districts, including Khanfir. The program, dubbed the Minimum Service Provision for Health Project, or MSP, provided essential medical supplies and operational support to one hospital and six clinics in each district.

Shuqra Hospital was not initially among the facilities selected for this program: along with al Kobar Hospital, it was completely non-functioning, and health officials in Abyan Governorate deemed the effort, money, and time necessary to get it in working order to be outside the MSP’s remit. Al Razi Hospital, the district’s only other hospital, was accordingly chosen. But the WHO deemed that choice untenable, leaving the program without a hospital to support in the governorate’s most populous district.

The CSSW then took the lead, coordinating the efforts of the Yemen Ministry of Public Health, Abyan health officials, and others in a concerted effort to open Shuqra Hospital within six months.

The effort succeeded. After nearly a decade, and with the gracious support of Minister of Public Health and Population Dr. Nasser Mohsen Baoum, Abyan Governor Abu Bakr Hussein Salem, and General Director of the Health Office in Abyan Dr. Jamal Nasser, Shuqra Hospital opened its doors in January 2019 under the leadership of Director General Dr. Anis Fadaaq. It now provides vital medical services 24 hours a day to residents of Khanfir and surrounding districts.
And those three people in the car accident got prompt, life-saving medical treatment. Each made a full recovery.

166,427 Beneficiaries

Shuqra Hospital is the most striking example of the services rendered by an overwhelmingly successful program. Over the months of August through December 2018, facilities supported by the MSP provided critical medical care to 165,635 patients who otherwise might well have gone unserved.

The 21 facilities supported by the MSP received water and fuel along with medical supplies and educational materials and support for creating and storing health-service records. 400 employees were given advanced training through 20 training courses. 392 medical staff were directly supported with monthly incentives beginning at 80k-90k riyals (roughly $350 USD) per month; these subsidies help MSP partner hospitals attract and retain highly qualified medical professionals and to maintain consistent, responsive service.

Unfinished Business

The MSP is scheduled to operate Until April 2019, at which point alternate means of funding will be required to maintain the services introduced by the program. The CSSW is working closely with the Ministry of Public Health to ensure that Shuqra Hospital’s fresh start is only the beginning of an ongoing success story.

The CSSW continues to seek partnership with humanitarian organizations toward strengthening medical facilities in Yemen and extending their ability to reach citizens affected by the vagaries of geography and the devastation of war.