Published on 6/21/2026
Amid official warnings of the situation getting out of control in light of a fertile environment for the spread of vectors, health authorities in the Yemeni governorate of Taiz reported recording more than 22,000 suspected cases of malaria since the beginning of this year.
In exclusive statements to Al Jazeera, Dr. Ismail Al-Hamoudi, Deputy Director General of the Health Office in Taiz and Director of Primary Health Care, explained the following points:
Malaria is historically considered an endemic disease in Yemen in general and Taiz in particular, but its severity has recently escalated.
The impact of climate change, heavy rains, and recent torrential rains have left huge water swamps that have directly contributed to the jump in infection rates, and the “Coast District” has topped the list as the region with the most recorded cases resulting from water stagnation.
Despite the efforts made by the health authorities, which included intensive spraying campaigns and training medical personnel on modern treatment protocols, there are geopolitical obstacles that hinder complete control.
The doctor pointed out that there are major mosquito breeding hotspots located directly on the confrontation lines between the warring forces in the country. This prevents response teams from reaching and treating them, turning these areas into continuous export sites for epidemics such as malaria and dengue fever.
For his part, Tayseer Al-Sami, a journalist specializing in health media and the media officer at the Taiz Health Office, confirmed that the numbers recorded this year far exceed previous years, and attributed the crisis to two main reasons: environmental factors and the spread of stagnant water, behavioral factors and weak community awareness of self-protection mechanisms and combating mosquitoes within homes and local communities.
Al-Samai appealed to citizens to drain the water swamps and get rid of any potential hotspots inside residential neighborhoods.
In the medical field, emergency rooms are suffering from constant pressure due to the influx of people suffering from “fever”, as the daily reception rate has reached 12 to 13 cases of various fevers (including confirmed malaria), and the general trend of the disease is a continuous rise in the number of infected people year after year, and among the most prominent causes in the field are the deterioration of sanitation services and the accumulation of exposed water.
Dr. Hamza Al-Qusais, Head of the Emergency Department at Al-Jumhuri General Hospital, stressed the importance of “home prevention” by covering water tanks and barrels tightly. Emergency doctors in various hospitals in the governorate also added their voices to the health administration, calling for the need to improve the public health environment and intensify preventive spraying campaigns before the situation worsens further.
