Brain drain leaves Yemen’s health sector in tatters and millions helpless

Ahmed Nagi, a Yemeni man in his 50s, had worked for more than 30 years as a porter in al-Turbah market in Taiz governorate before disaster struck.

By helping shoppers carry goods from stalls to their cars, he earned enough money to provide a decent living for his family of seven. But all this all changed two years ago, when he was stuck down with liver complications, leaving him unable to continue his work.
Now, Nagi can hardly move without the aid of a walking stick, which he relies on whenever he leaves the house. Being out of work, he also cannot afford to pay for the medicine he should be taking to treat his condition.

“I was told by doctors, who are not liver specialists, that my liver isn’t functioning properly, but they weren’t sure if that is the root problem. It has left me barely able to walk, and sometimes I can’t move at all,” Nagi told Al Jazeera English.

“Generous people provided me with medicine for a few months, but I didn’t recover, and my health is worsening every day,” he said.

From a poor family, Nagi was only able to afford care at a local hospital, but he was told that to treat his condition properly, he would need to seek specialised care at a medical centre in the capital, Sanaa, or Aden.

For a man reliant on the charity of others to put food on his table, paying for medical treatment in another governorate is nearly impossible.

“Travelling to Aden or Sanaa requires a lot of money, and I am unemployed. But I pray to God every day and hope someone will help me get better one day,” he added.
Yemen suffers from a severe shortage of skilled health workers, with 18 percent of districts across the country completely lacking doctors, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Many of the nation’s most qualified health professionals left Yemen long ago, in search of better opportunities abroad.

Yemenis who can afford medical care overseas now travel to Egypt, Jordan, India and other countries for treatment. Those without funds have no option but to seek treatment at home – but nearly 12 years of war and other challenges have seen a massive brain drain from Yemen, decimating the country’s health sector.