Hadeel has been struggling with abdominal pain for one year. Her stomach is sensitive to many types of food and beverages, including chicken, meat, and milk.

She has visited multiple doctors in the Yemeni capital Sanaa and had many medical tests in search of the right diagnosis and the perfect prescription. All her efforts, along with the expenses she endured, have been to no avail.

Hadeel’s circumstances are not rare. In northern Yemen, thousands of patients endure prolonged agony or die prematurely amid a crippled health sector and the absence of commercial flights.

With this new year, United Nations officials say the health crisis in the country is getting worse amid renewed political and security tensions.

“We’re going to see a major change where the health system is not going to be supported in the way it has been in the past,” Julien Harneis, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, said on January 19.

Dr Hanan Balkhy, the World Health Organization regional director, indicated last month that the emergency in Yemen receives far less attention but remains just as urgent.