SANA'A, Oct. 17 (Saba) - With the continued blockade and piracy on oil vessels and the closure of Sana'a International Airport, cancer patients continue to pay their lives for all this arrogance and criminality of the aggression coalition amid suspicious Arab and International silence and amid the shameful role of the United Nations.
The National Oncology Center in the capital Sana'a and the only one in Yemen as radiotherapy and chemotherapy are the most common types of cancer treatment, it is also suffering from a severe shortage of medical devices and therapeutic drugs due to the all-inclusive blockade imposed on Yemen as well as the closure of the airport.
The center receives in its outpatient clinics approximately 160 cases per day from various provinces of Yemen, while 6,000 new cases are registered per year.
Cases reach about 20,000 at the level of Yemen. This number is very large compared to 2014, according to the Director-General of the National Center for Oncology, Dr. Abdullah Dahan Thawaba.
Dr. Thawaba noted that the center accommodates 75 beds for men, women and children departments, and 'on the only radiation machine' the radiation department receives 120 sessions five days a week, equivalent to 600 clinical cases per week.
The external administration department receives 84 cases per day for chemotherapy, and the emergency department receives approximately 200 cases per day, bringing the number of cases to 6,000 annually.
"There are a number of units that are being prepared and during this year units of chemotherapy for cancer patients will be inaugurated in Amran, Hajjah, Sa'ada and Dhamar provinces, Allah almighty willing", said Dr. Thawaba in a special statement to Saba.net website.
The units in Hajjah, Dhamar, and Amran provinces have started work during this year, Dr. Thawaba said, pointing out the units of Aden, Hodeida, Taiz, Ibb, and Mukalla are working very well, but they lack some medical supplies for the reasons of the aggression and siege on Yemen.
Dr. Thawaba explained that the Oncology Center in Sana'a will soon be supplied with a new building located next to the building of the capital Sanaa, adding: “We wish the governor of the capital Sanaa to cooperate with the center to obtain the new building to relieve cancer patients and open a surgical unit for tumor surgery".
He stressed that when all treatment services for cancer patients are completed, the center will be transformed into a hospital.
Dr. Thawaba pointed out that the aggression prevented the entry of radioactive sources into Yemen and stopped two out of three devices. Moreover, the third device is in its last days because it has been operating for more than five years at an efficiency of 38%, as the efficiency of this device when it reaches 30% will unfortunately stop running.
He held the international community and international and relief organizations, led by the World Health Organization, responsible for the absence of basic and necessary medicines such as radioactive iodine, as it is a special medicine for treating patients that 'has nothing to do with wars', when the cancer patients use it, it is considered 100% curative effectiveness.
When patients do not get access to such medical objects, their medical health is endangered and they could lose their lives, the Director-General of the National Center for Oncology said.
He appealed for the rapid opening of Sana'a airport and the release of detained oil derivatives vessels because most cancer patients are from remote provinces and cannot reach treatment centers easily which leads to their death on roads to hospitals or in their homes, adding "This is a crime in itself for which states of aggression must be held accountable".
H.H
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