National Geographic

A father holds his babyat the Mother andChild Hospital after thechild was treated fora respiratory infection.Doctors and nurseshave fled Yemen, leav-ing hospitals stretchedthin. “A lot of my col-leagues have alreadyleft or are trying totravel to the Gulf statesto find a better life,”says one Yemeni doc-tor working in Sanaa.``````PREVIOUS PHOTOIn a dedicated ward ofthe Al-Nasser Hospital,babies are treatedfor malnutrition—they’re just two of theestimated 1.8 millionacutely malnourishedchildren under agefive. Yemen’s depletedhealth ministry relieson humanitarian orga-nizations to providemedical care.``````0 mi 500 km 50``````SOU``````TH^DIV``````IDEFORMERNORTH-Houthi rebels (supported by Iran)Area under control or influenceAs of May 2018``````Hadi government and other forces(supported by the Saudi-led coalitionand allies)``````Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsulaand tribal alliesDhamarTaizzAdenAl HudaydahSadahHajjah AmranSanaaMaribSayunAl MukallaIbbAd Dali``````ArabianSea``````Gulfof^AdenRedBab el MandebSeaYEMENSAUDI ARABIAOMANAFRICA13°34'39" N, 44°01'04" ETHE YOUNG WOMAN was carried into thehospital at 9:30 a.m. Twenty minutesearlier she had been hanging laundrywhen a bomb fell in her courtyard onthe outskirts of Taizz, an ancient cityin southwest Yemen. A man covered inblood, her cousin, cried as the doctorsrushed her to the trauma center.“Both legs?” he asked when thedoctor returned and gestured to showwhere they would amputate. One legwas shredded; the other had a protrud-ing bone. Both, the doctor confirmed.She was put in an ambulance and takento another hospital. Then there wassilence. The nurses scrubbed blood ofthe floor and waited for the next patient.That night, Matteo Bastianelli, anItalian photographer who’d watchedthe scene, wrote in his diary aboutlife in Taizz after three years undersiege: “Doctors wait, with the thunderof airplanes in their ears and the dustin their eyes, living with the fear thatsomething terrible and irreparablecould happen at any moment.”``````ONCE KNOWN by the Romans as Ara-bia Felix, “Fortunate Arabia,” Yemen``````was a strategic port at the entrance tothe Red Sea, made rich by spices andscents. Today it’s one of the poorestcountries in the world. Until 1990north and south Yemen were governedseparately, and this divide continuesto fuel conflict. In late 2014 separat-ist Houthi rebels seized the capitalof Sanaa in an attempted coup. Fear-ing a regional shake-up, neighboringSaudi Arabia intervened on behalf ofPresident Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi’sformer government. With supportfrom the U.S., the U.K., and nearly adozen Arab states, a Saudi-led coali-tion launched an air campaign to helpYemen’s government keep its grasp onlarge swaths of the country.After three years of fighting, thenumbers are stunning: In a nation ofnearly 29 million, 22 million Yemenisare in need of humanitarian assistance,according to the UN. Two million havebeen displaced. At least 10,000 aredead. With the economy and healthcare system in shambles, Yemenismake desperate decisions to find med-ical treatment. Some take dangerouscross-country journeys to hospitalsrun by humanitarian groups; othersspend their savings at private clinics.AFRICA YEMENEUROPE ASIACholera infection rateApril 2017–March 2018Low HighCHOLERA CRISISSince April 2017, more than a millionsuspected cholera cases have beenreported in Yemen. An internationalblockade and reliance on importedmedical supplies have made it difficultto contain and treat the outbreak.``````CLARE TRAINOR, NGM STAFF. SOURCES: RISK INTELLIGENCE;WHO; EUROPEAN COMMISSION, JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE``````North and south Yemen weregoverned separately untilthe country unified in 1990.Tensions between political fac-tions erupted in 2014, creatingwhat the UN deems the world’sworst humanitarian disaster.136 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC