Smuggled Medicines Kill 10 Children in Yemen’s Hospital
Smuggled medicines are common for hospitals across Yemen, which have been suffering from a shortage of drugs, equipment and funds for years.
Ten children with leukemia died after receiving smuggled medicines in a public hospital in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported Friday, citing a statement by the Houthi-controlled health authorities.
Meanwhile, nine other children are in critical condition after receiving the same smuggled medicines, said the statement, adding an investigation is underway.
The AP news agency, which was able to interview some of the families of the boys affected by the drugs, reported that the patients felt pain and cramps for several days after receiving the expired chemotherapy.
“The worst thing was that the hospital administration tried to hide the truth from us,” said the father of one of the dead children.
Smuggled medicines are common for hospitals across Yemen, which have been suffering from a shortage of drugs, equipment and funds for years. More than half of Yemen’s medical facilities have been paralysed since a civil war broke out.
The Houthi rebels captured large swaths of northern Yemen in 2014 and drove the Saudi-backed Yemeni government out of Sanaa, plunging the Arab country into a civil war that continues to this day.
The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million, and pushed the Arab country to the brink of starvation.