‘95 Yemeni war patients admitted to private hospitals this week’

AMMAN — Jordanian private hospitals have admitted 95 war-injured Yemenis who arrived in the Kingdom by plane on Tuesday, Private Hospitals Association President Fawzi Hammouri said Wednesday.

Jordan is the first destination for Yemeni war patients, who mostly suffer from difficult conditions that require long treatment periods, Hammouri told The Jordan Times in a phone interview.

“Jordanian medical teams and hospitals have gained great experience in dealing with war patients,” he said, noting that many patients during the Palestinian uprising as well as the wars in Iraq, Libya and Syria were treated in Jordanian hospitals.

Last week, another plane carrying 85 Yemeni patients arrived in Jordan, and the patients were admitted to private hospitals.

He noted that Yemeni war patients have been distributed to eight private hospitals and are expected to stay there “for months”. 

A larger number of Yemeni patients is also expected to arrive in the Kingdom to receive medical care, which could lead to increasing the number of private hospitals involved in treating them, according to Hammouri.

“The majority of war patients we receive are in need of immediate surgical intervention and intensive medical care,” he said, adding that war patients usually suffer from injuries to the bones, abdomen, backbone, head and eyes, in addition to burns.

The physician said intensified infection-control measures are in place as many Yemeni patients have become infected due to surgeries performed under “improper” medical conditions in Yemen, adding that war patients undergo tests for contagious diseases as soon as they arrive in Jordanian hospitals.

He said a special committee of Yemeni officials is supervising the medical treatment operation and is working to sign agreements with Jordanian private hospitals.