Less than 20 miles from the front lines of the war in Yemen, the health center of Mafraq Al Mokha provides care free of charge in a region abandoned by much of the international community.
First published August 22, 2024 by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières
The mountainous Yemeni town of Mafraq Al Mokha, located in the Mawza district of Taiz governorate, is only 18 miles from the front lines. Over the years, it has become a hub for families that have fled the fighting, and is now home to 4,500 internally displaced people who live in precarious conditions and face extreme difficulty accessing health care.
Despite the needs, international and national organizations have stopped providing support to Mafraq Al Mokha, and today it is considered one of the most neglected areas in the region.
One-and-a-half-year-old Noor sits on her mother’s lap while Dr. Hamza checks on her. She’s feeling weak and tired after suffering from diarrhea for a few days.
“It breaks my heart every time one of my children gets sick, especially when it’s Noor, my youngest,” says Noor’s mother, Jama’a. “It always stresses me when I need to find good quality health care in my area without paying for medical fees.”
Given her financial situation, Jama’a comes to the health center in Mafraq Al Mokha for quality, free-of-charge care for her nine children. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been supporting this health center since 2022, with the objective of increasing primary health care capacity in rural areas of Mawza district in Yemen.
Basic health care and referrals, free of charge
MSF supports the management of medical emergencies in the health center’s emergency room, including the stabilization of war-wounded patients and victims of road traffic accidents before they are referred to another facility for additional care. With the support of MSF teams, the center also provides regular outpatient consultations, prenatal and postnatal care for women, health promotion activities, and pediatric care including nutrition screening and vaccination. Low vaccination coverage has led to the emergence of vaccine-treatable diseases in the community.
“Health care is like a dove whose head is the doctor, right wing is the nurse, and left wing is the pharmacist. The nurse is the closest to the patients, supporting them when they are in pain and bandaging their wounds, and this is what makes me feel proud to be a nurse.’’
— Amal Abdullah Abdo Naji, a nurse in the pediatric triage department.
“A lot of the cases that we treat at the center here require referral to another health facility or hospital for additional care due to absence of secondary care here,” says Dr. Abdulhakim Mohammed Farhan, MSF’s project medical referent. To respond to this growing need, this year MSF initiated an ambulance referral system that allows patients to be transferred to another hospital free of charge. Given Mafraq Al Mokha’s situation in the mountains, the nearest major hospital is about 25 miles away.
Most cases are referred to Mokha’s general hospital, where MSF runs a maternity facility and pediatric ward, or other health facilities in Taiz governorate. Many patients suffer from malnutrition or need additional maternal and reproductive care, says Dr. Abdulhakim.
Bringing care to a neglected area
Between January and July this year, more than 1,562 patients were treated in the emergency room of the health center in Mafraq Al Mokha. During that time, more than 9,473 patients were treated in the outpatient clinic, with 915 women receiving prenatal and postnatal care. The team also treated patients suffering from communicable diseases as well as 488 with dengue and more than 965 with malaria, Noor being one of them.
Following a recent increase in the number of acute watery diarrhea and cholera cases in Yemen, MSF set up an observation and stabilization tent in Mafraq Al Mokha with a capacity of two beds. Between April and July, teams treated 1,089 patients, some of whom were referred to MSF’s cholera treatment center in Mokha city for additional medical care.