Entisaf Organization: Continued siege threatens the lives of women and children with cancer

The Entisaf Organization for Women and Children’s Rights condemned the ongoing blockade imposed by the Saudi-led coalition on Yemen for nearly 12 years, asserting that it has exacerbated the humanitarian and health catastrophe, disproportionately affecting women and children, and turning cancer into a slow death sentence due to the collapse of the health sector and the prevention of access to life-saving medications.

In a statement received by the Yemeni News Agency (SABA), the organization emphasized that women and children are paying the heaviest price for this ongoing crime. Children suffering from cancer and leukemia face the daily threat of death due to the lack of essential medicines, delays in treatment, and the continued blockade that prevents patients from traveling to receive medical care.

The statement also noted that women with tumors are suffering from the deterioration of health services and the loss of treatment opportunities, in flagrant violation of the right to life and health guaranteed under international law.

The statement clarified that the blockade is no longer merely an economic measure, but has transformed into a policy of collective punishment targeting various aspects of life. This has led to the collapse of the health system, worsened humanitarian and living conditions, widened the scope of poverty and malnutrition, and deprived millions of Yemenis, especially women and children, of their most basic rights. According to data released by the Ministry of Health and the National Cancer Center, 2,300 children have been diagnosed with childhood leukemia since the start of the aggression and the closure of Sana’a Airport. Three thousand children are suffering from a lack of the necessary medications for their treatment, while 30% of childhood leukemia patients die as a result of being denied travel abroad for treatment.

Two hundred children need to travel for bone marrow transplants, and another 200 require targeted treatment outside Yemen. However, the ongoing blockade deprives them of this right, leaving them to face death in silence.

The data also indicates that more than 120,000 cancer patients are living in dire humanitarian conditions as a result of the continued blockade. The number of cancer cases between 2015 and 2025 reached approximately 67,074, with the number of patients increasing by 50% due to the deteriorating health and environmental conditions and the ongoing blockade. The statement indicated that the blockade has also caused a 60% shortage of medicines, with 1,329 types of drugs disappearing, including 12 essential chemotherapy drugs and ten major cancer medications. Furthermore, 83 international pharmaceutical companies have withdrawn from supplying medicines to the Yemeni market, depriving thousands of patients of treatment, exacerbating complications, and increasing mortality rates.

The statement emphasized that the continued targeting of the health sector and the denial of treatment and medicine to civilians constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law and amounts to a crime that warrants accountability, especially when its consequences deprive children and women of their right to treatment and life.

The organization held Saudi Arabia, the United States, and the countries participating in the aggression fully legally and morally responsible for this catastrophe and for all the deaths and suffering that could have been avoided had the blockade been lifted, airports reopened, and medicines and medical supplies allowed to enter without restrictions.