The World Health Organization has been requested by the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory to launch an immediate inquiry into the suspected expired medicine injection that caused at least 18 children to die in a hospital in the Houthi-controlled city of Sanaa in Yemen.
While the Houthi-controlled Ministry of Health in Sanaa is not expected to carry out an open and impartial investigation and hold those accountable for the incident of distributing a corrupt dose of “Methotrexate,” used to inhibit immunity, to Sanaa hospitals and injecting dozens of children with cancer at Kuwait Hospital in it, the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory said in a statement that it is crucial for the World Health Organization to take action.
The World Health Organization and other donor organisations are allegedly accusing the Ministry of Health and Population in Sanaa of obtaining the medication before its expiration date passed and distributing it to hospitals. The Euro-Mediterranean emphasised the significance of conducting the investigation.
Approximately 30 additional children who received the same dose but experienced difficulties are still being treated in the intensive care units of several Sanaa hospitals while Yemeni medical and media authorities reported the deaths of 18 youngsters.
The statement quoted Muhammad al -Khawlani, a relative of the child Ismail al -Khawlani (12 years old), who died after receiving the dose of the corrupt medicine: “These patients were given expired chemical doses that may be smuggled or randomly stored for more than 17 cases. The majority of the affected patients—including Ibn Khali Ismail Muhammad Al-Khawlani—struggle with death, and the remaining cases are still doing so.
The statement emphasised that the incident shows a clear disregard for the lives of Yemenis, and it was discovered that the Houthi government’s Ministry of Health and Population (which is not recognised internationally) revealed the responsibilities that they are responsible for as the authority responsible for the health and safety of patients in the city’s hospitals, as it is not possible in any way to use hospitals to administer a dose of a drug that has not been examined and previously.
The Euro-Mediterranean stated his concern that further doses may be made available in the city’s hospitals and healthcare facilities, which could result in a serious incident that claims the lives of hundreds of patients.
The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory requested that the Special Rapporteur on the right to health take into account the incident and the request to launch a global investigation into the extent to which Yemenis benefit from the medical assistance provided by the World Health Organization and other international organisations free of charge and at the appropriate time, and whether it is already being stored for extended periods of time for the purpose of the authorities benefiting from them.
Yemen.. Requests to launch a probe into the deaths of kids who received a “Houthi injection”
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