Yemen has lost at least 19 doctors* thought to have contracted the novel coronavirus in various governorates throughout the country, according to data published by an official from the internationally recognized government’s Ministry of Health.

On Thursday, Health Ministry Undersecretary Abdulraqeeb Al-Haidari published the list on his Facebook page. Al-Haidari called on his followers to add the names of other doctors thought to have died from COVID-19, suggesting that the list is a personal data collection effort. In the absence of official statistics from the Ministry of Health, whose top official and a number of his aides reside in Riyadh, grassroots efforts to document the crisis are becoming more common.  

Al-Haidari added in the Facebook post that some doctors have recovered from coronavirus, while others are currently infected and still receiving treatment.

Doctors, organizations and activists in Yemen have issued warnings about the collapse of the health system. 

A statement issued by the heads of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee working in Yemen warned that the already weak health system is under increasing pressure due to COVID-19.

Al-Haidari's list of doctors who have died in the face of the coronavirus outbreak is as follows:

1. Dr. Fouad Al-Shaghadari – Intensive Care Physician

2. Dr. Hatem Abu Hatem – Medical laboratories

3. Dr. Abdo Ali – Pharmacist Al-Thawra Hospital in Sana'a

4. Dr. Yousry Mejalli – Dentist

5. Dr. Ibtihal Hammoud – Gynecologist in Aden

6. Dr. Nabil Ahmed – Microbiologist in Aden

7. Dr. Ahmed Al-Muayyad – Nephrologist in Sana'a

8. Dr. Aref Ahmed Ali – Public Health in Aden

9. Dr. Mohammed Al-Qal’a – Internal medicine in Aden

10. Dr. Samira Al Hammadi – Aden

11. Dr. Younis Anis Bin Taleb – Internal medicine (Neurologist) in Aden

12. Dr. Adel Al-Sarari – Dentist in Aden

13. Saleh Al-Daoudi

14. Abdel Fattah Al-Muzahmi

15. Dr. Munir Al-Quaish - Director of Al-Sunaina Medical Center in Sana'a

16. Fouad Ahmed Moqbel – Dentist in Sana'a

17. Dr. Mohammed Al-Mansour – Sana'a

18. Abdullah Sa’sa’ah

19. Dr. Hassan Ashish – Dermatologist in Hodeidah

* The list does not include some Yemeni doctors who were suspected to have died from coronavirus in recent weeks. 

--

Edited by Casey Coombs