Journey to recovery: Yemeni patients get new lease on life in Jordan

AMMAN — A plane carrying Yemeni civilians who need medical treatment abroad landed in Jordan yesterday. The flight is the second to arrive this week as part of the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) medical airbridge operation. 

“These are some of the first civilians to leave the country since the start of the crisis, signaling a new era of hope for Yemen and all Yemenis,” WHO Representative in Yemen Altaf Musani was quoted in a WHO statement as saying. 

Earlier this week, six children were the first patients to be flown out of Yemen as part of the medical airbridge operation. Several have already had successful surgeries and are in good spirits and optimistic about their future, according to the statement. 

With today’s flight, they have now been joined by an additional 22 men, women and children, bringing the total number of Yemeni patients in Jordan to 28. 

The statement noted that these patients are part of a special group of chronically ill Yemenis who cannot get the treatment they need inside the country. Many of them suffer from different types of cancers, kidney disease, congenital anomalies and other conditions.

A third flight is planned to Cairo, Egypt, scheduled to depart from Yemen in the coming weeks. 

The medical airbridge operation was made possible through negotiations by UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Lise Grande, as well as the governments of Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, according to the statement.

Inside Yemen, WHO and partners continue to support the provision of aid for millions of people in need of basic and lifesaving healthcare services.