"The child was sick. He was suffering from diarrhoea and weakness in the body,” says Ismail. Ismail is the father of Abdo, a one-year-old child with malnutrition who was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Ad Dahi rural hospital.
Ad Dahi lies about 50 kilometres from Hodeidah city, and Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) supports the hospital here to provide medical services for people living in the city and its neighbouring areas. In the Hodeidah region, the war has disrupted people’s access to care.
Poverty, lack of transportation and a fuel crisis have increased the challenges for people who live in rural areas and need to attend a hospital. Many cannot reach one in time.
Abdo’s family was able to reach Ad Dahi, but not without challenges. “We [were] in the desert in the Moor Valley where we live, [and] we struggled a lot to reach the main road to bring him to this hospital where doctors treated him,” says Ismail. “We have been here for a week.
“Now, thank God, his health has improved a little and we are waiting for him to fully improve. But we are tired of going home and back.”