LocationsThe promise of health in Ghail Bawazir, Yemen
July 22, 2024
Muna opening the door to the newly rehabilitated and equipped surgery room at Ghail Bawazir Hospital.
Ghail Bawazir Hospital is a lifeline for community members of Ghail Bawazir, a village about forty-five kilometers north-east of Mukalla in Hadhramout Governorate, Yemen. For many years, hospital staff faced a daunting challenge: meeting the overwhelming healthcare needs of the local community with very limited resources. The hospital’s single, overstretched surgery room was a stark reflection of the broader crisis, forcing patients to make agonizing choices between seeking essential medical care and enduring the risks of travel.
Muna in the surgery room of Ghail Bawazir Hospital.
For years, Ghail Bawazir Hospital operated with just one functioning surgery room, able to perform a mere seven to eight surgeries daily. With the burgeoning medical needs in the area, this was a drop in an ocean.
"We usually have seven to eight surgeries per shift. That was the hospital’s maximum capacity," says Muna, one of the hospital's anesthesia technicians, highlighting the immense pressure on the limited resources which forced many to forego essential surgeries or embark on arduous journeys to other cities, a luxury few could afford.
The hospital's limited capacity meant that emergencies were often met with devastating outcomes.
"The way to Mukalla is not far, but we have had medical emergencies that we need to attend to right away, but could not due to limited capacity. A child passed away not long ago because of this," Muna shares.
This tragic incident is a stark reminder of the human cost of inadequate healthcare infrastructure.
A man walking down a street in Ghail Bawazir.
Recognizing the urgent need for action, local authorities in Ghail Bawazir seized the opportunities presented by UNDP’s Strengthening Institutional and Economic Resilience in Yemen (SIERY) Project, funded by the European Union. Through the project’s capacity-building initiatives, local officials were equipped with the tools and knowledge to identify pressing community needs and develop strategies for recovery. Ghail Bawazir Hospital’s limited surgical capacity emerged as a top priority.
Empowered with the necessary skills to identify and manage local community priorities, local authorities successfully secured funding from the Local Resilience and Recovery Fund (L2RF) of the SIERY Project to rehabilitate and expand the hospital’s surgery room. This initiative is a testament to the growing capacity of local institutions to drive development by taking ownership of challenges and implementing locally driven solutions.
Nurse Balquees preparing for a surgical intervention on a patient at Ghail Bawazir Hospital.
"This initiative increased the surgery room capacity from 20 per cent to 80 per cent," shares Nurse Balquees, who is employed by Ghail Bawazir Hospital. She underscores the increased ability to provide essential surgeries locally, sparing patients the prohibitive costs and risks of traveling to other medical facilities.
Now, with the rehabilitation of the surgery room, the hospital can handle a significantly higher number of surgeries, addressing a critical gap in healthcare access. "People now can afford treatment; they no longer have to travel to get operated on," Nurse Balquees notes, her words resonating with the reassurance felt by the community.
“The funding and support provided to Ghail Bawazir Hospital has dramatically improved our healthcare services. We’ve increased our surgical capacity from one to three or four simultaneous operations, significantly enhancing patient care. This has allowed us to better serve our community. We are grateful for the local authorities’ commitment to the hospital,” states Dr. Fayez, Ghail Bawazir Hospital Director.
“The SIERY Project stands out for its collaborative approach,” explains Salem, Director of Ghail Bawazir District. “By working closely with us from the outset and empowering our community, the project fosters a strong sense of ownership. The gradual capacity building, institutional support, and inclusive engagement of various stakeholders culminated in our ability to prioritize and fund local needs. This process significantly strengthened trust among us as local authorities, civil society, and community members,” he continues.
The overhaul of the surgery room is a testament to Ghail Bawazir’s local authorities’ commitment to navigating the complexities of recovery and building community and institutional resilience. The success of this initiative has empowered the local authorities to tackle other challenges with increased confidence and has strengthened their capacity for project management, financial management, and community engagement.
In Ghail Bawazir, families no longer must make impossible choices between health and financial survival. Children, like the community members recently tragically lost, can feel safer with the knowledge that they have a better chance for a future in which their basic needs can be met.
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