Taiz Hospital has slashed its operational incubator count from 40 to 10 after weeks of fuel shortages left the facility unable to power the machines. “There’s no oxygen, no fuel to run the incubators, to keep the babies warm,” nurse Nada Ahmed said, describing the scene where fragile newborns lie exposed to lethal hypothermia.
The shortage is part of a broader crisis that has left 42 health facilities in the city scrambling for fuel, oxygen and medicines, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said.
Fuel prices in Taiz have surged to 2,000 Yemeni rials per litre, a blow that has cut access to even the most basic supplies and left hospitals scrambling for spare parts.
WFP estimates that more than 800,000 residents in the city and its outskirts have lost access to food assistance, while UNICEF screened 168,000 children this year, finding 52,000 acutely malnourished and 11,500 severely malnourished.
Displacement has worsened the situation, with MSF reporting that families fleeing clashes in the north and along the west coast are straining the resources of already overburdened hospitals.
The United Nations has called on the Saudi‑led coalition to lift the blockade and allow emergency fuel deliveries into Taiz, a move that could restore dozens of incubators and halt a looming neonatal catastrophe.