Fuel shortages force Yemen's Taiz hospital to slash neonatal incubators, endangering infants

In the besieged city of Taiz, the Yemeni-Swedish Hospital for Maternity and Childhood has cut its functional incubators from 40 to 10 due to a lack of fuel, according to neonatal nurse Nada Ahmed. Supervisor Nawal Najeeb cautioned that the unit could be forced to stop if fuel does not arrive, risking deaths and disabilities among newborns. The city has been isolated since October 3, with fighting blocking key supply routes and driving up fuel prices to 2,000 Yemeni rials per litre.

Across Taiz, 42 health facilities report acute shortages of fuel, oxygen and medicines, while the United Nations says the city shelters almost half of the 250,000 displaced people. Aid groups such as Oxfam Yemen, Médecins Sans Frontières, the World Food Programme and UNICEF warn that the fuel crisis is worsening hunger, malnutrition and access to essential health services throughout southern Yemen.