Yemen's Taiz medical team performs life-saving surgeries for children

In the war-torn city of Taiz, Yemen, a specialized medical camp offered a lifeline to 110 children suffering from congenital heart defects. The initiative, held between May 16 and 21, provided free treatment for conditions like atrial septal defect (ASD), commonly known as a "hole in the heart."

The complex pediatric cardiac surgery camp was a multinational effort, bringing together medical professionals from Qatar's Sidra Medicine, along with Arab and French doctors. Consultants from across Yemen also contributed their expertise. The program received crucial support from Qatar Charity and the Qatar Red Crescent.

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This is the largest medical camp in the country where complex operations of this kind are performed in this number and within such a critical period of time.

Professor Abudar al-Ganadi, head of the Taiz Cardiac and Vascular Diseases and Kidney Transplant Center, hailed the camp as a significant achievement for Yemen's medical sector. Since its establishment in July 2021, the center has become a vital hub, performing 164 kidney transplants, 1,450 open-heart surgeries, and thousands of other vascular and urology operations despite the ongoing conflict.

The center has been instrumental in providing life-saving treatments for Yemenis who cannot afford care abroad. Recently, it successfully performed its first three liver transplants, marking a potential step towards establishing a sustainable program for liver disease treatment in the country. Professor al-Ganadi emphasized a cautious approach to announcing results, preferring to wait until a larger number of procedures have been completed.

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We launched this [liver transplant] programme quietly and cautiously with two cases, then a third one, and we will continue gradually. We will not announce preliminary results until after 10 transplants, then 50, just as we did with the cardiac programme.