The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center has inked deals worth $15 million with the World Health Organization to support Yemen’s health sector.
The agreements were signed on Sunday by KSrelief General Supervisor Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah and WHO’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari.
Under the first agreement, the Yemeni health sector will be strengthened with basic and life-saving health equipment. This includes new laboratory tools and medicines to treat infectious diseases, KSrelief said.
That agreement will benefit more than one million individuals in several Yemeni governorates.
The second agreement will provide five oxygen stations (phase II), support logistics, and train hospital staff, with the aim of “increasing the readiness of health facilities (and) sustaining health services” in the governorates of Shabwa, Marib, Abyan, and Hadramout.
The third agreement focuses on supporting COVID-19 vaccine logistics for ten percent of the population of Yemen, with the aim of increasing awareness about the vaccine and boosting uptake.
Al-Rabeeah hailed the partnership between Saudi Arabia and WHO to address human suffering wherever it occurred.
He said KSrelief has carried out several initiatives with the UN body in the past few years for the benefit of Yemenis. These programs have had a great impact in addressing many diseases and pandemics, he said, the latest of which was COVID-19. He also praised the joint work in addressing the cholera epidemic in the country.
For his part, Al-Mandhari affirmed that the Kingdom, represented by KSrelief, has supported UN programs around the world.
“Through these agreements signed today, we have opened a new chapter for the partnership between us, and we hope for this partnership to continue and extend in Yemen, and the region and beyond,” he said.
