884 cancer cases recorded in Taiz in 6 months.

Arab Sea Newspaper - Follow-ups

Arabian Sea - Yemen - Follow-ups: A Yemeni medical official revealed on Tuesday that the cancer control center in Taiz Governorate is unable to receive new cases due to the increasing number of patients in the most populous governorate. The media official in the Taiz Governorate Health Ministry office, Tayseer Al-Samei, stated in a statement to the German News Agency that 884 cases of cancer were recorded in the governorate during the first half of this year, 2025. He added that the cancer control center in Taiz city faces accumulated challenges that threaten its continuity, pointing out that "the building is cramped, the capabilities are scarce, while the medical staff is limited, and the costs of treatment are exorbitant, while cases come from remote areas in need of shelter and housing that the center cannot provide." Al-Samei explained that the center relies entirely on donations, which have recently begun to shrink, amid the absence of any direct government support, which portends a looming health and humanitarian disaster. New statistics indicate that Taiz Governorate records about five new cancer cases daily in a country suffering from one of the worst humanitarian, economic, and health crises in the world. According to data from the Health Office, 1,626 cancer cases were recorded last year, an increase of nearly a third compared to 2023, which recorded 1,211 cases. Gastrointestinal cancer topped the list of the most common types of cancer, accounting for 20% of the total cases, raising questions about the possible causes and their relationship to diet or other practices such as chewing qat, etc. It is noteworthy that the war between government forces and the Houthis, which has been ongoing for decades, has led to significant repercussions in various areas of life, including the health sector, which has been severely affected.