Following the recent offensive by forces loyal to President Hadi and supported by the Saudi and Emirati-led international coalition on Hodeidah, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has opened a 20-bed surgical field hospital in Mocha, 180 kilometres south of Hodeidah, to respond to increased medical needs. 

More than 70 MSF staff are working in the newly-established surgical field hospital. The facility, whose capacity can be extended to receive more patients, provides emergency medical care to people coming from the Hodeidah and Taiz frontlines. Among the patients are war-wounded and pregnant women with complicated deliveries that require urgent surgery.  

Since April, the escalation of violence in Hodeidah and Taiz has led to an increase of war-wounded people. In the last couple of months, around 20 ambulances per day have been transporting patients from Hodeidah and surrounds to Aden, a six-hour drive to reach much-needed healthcare. 

The MSF trauma hospital in Aden has received 493 patients from the frontlines on the western coast since April. In July, 83 per cent of the 173 patients received from Hodeidah and Taiz were injured by gun shots, landmines or bombing. 

“Some patients are arriving at our hospital in Aden in a critical condition, due to the long distance they’ve needed to travel to access health care”, said Thierry Durand, MSF project coordinator in Mocha. “This is one of the main reasons that led us to open this hospital in Mocha, so people are able to get to us quicker, enabling us to save more patients.”