Access to health services is limited in Yemen, especially in rural areas. Maternal mortality rates are high and infant and child mortality rates also remain high.

SFD health interventions target areas of the country that are poor and under-served by health facilities. SFD supports primary health care and increasing the role of the community in delivery of health services. Support is also provided to upgrading the quality of training to health staff with an emphasis on mid-level and female staff.

The Health Sector of SFD focuses on supporting the Government to improve health through 4 main programs. These are:

1. Enhancement of access to primary health care services

2. Improvement of mid-level health education

3. Expansion and enhancement of reproductive health

4. Psychiatric health services

Each of these programs has its own objectives, criteria for eligibility and ways of measuring progress. Each program is described briefly below.

Enhancement of Access to Primary Health Care Services

This program aims to increase access through increasing Health & Social Protection Access to health services is limited in Yemen, especially in rural areas. Maternal mortality rates are high and infant and child mortality rates also remain high.

SFD health interventions target areas of the country that are poor and under-served by health facilities. SFD supports primary health care and increasing the role of the community in delivery of health services. Support is also provided to upgrading the quality of training to health staff with an emphasis on mid-level and female staff.

The Health Sector of SFD focuses on supporting the Government to improve health through 4 main programs. These are:

1. Enhancement of access to primary health care services

2. Improvement of mid-level health education

3. Expansion and enhancement of reproductive

4. Psychiatric health services

Each of these programs has its own objectives, criteria for eligibility and ways of measuring progress. Each program is described briefly below. For full details, see SFD Guidelines of Operation.

The Social Protection component of this unit provides support to groups with special needs. This is described at the end of this section

Enhancement of Access to Primary Health Care Services

This program aims to increase access through increasing the number of facilities, health care service providers and to improve the quality of services provided at health facilities.   Specific interventions include:

ü    Rehabilitation of health facilities

ü    Building of health facilities

ü    Provision of equipment

ü    Forming and training health committees at health units to increase community participation in health service delivery

To support an infrastructure project under this program, the project has to meet a number of criteria. These are given in more detail in the SFD Guidelines of Operations. Criteria used to assess whether SFD support will be given include: the distribution of health facilities in the area; community priorities and their willingness to participate and the provision of Government staff as needed.

Enhancement of Mid-Level Health Education

This program aims to increase the capacity of health institutions, improve the educational environment within the health institutions and upgrade the skills of teaching and administrative staff at health institutions.

Specific interventions include:

• Support to health infrastructure—construction of buildings, furniture and equipment

• Enhancing the educational environment through skills provision, laboratories, libraries, workshops, etc.

• Support to syllabus development

• Staff training

• Provision of up-to-date teaching technologies and provision of text books and other resources.

Expansion and enhancement of reproductive health services

This program aims to increase the number of births that occur under medical supervision, reduce the number of deaths in child birth of mothers and babies, and decrease infant mortality.

The program will support the following interventions:

• Pre- and in-service training

• Provision of domestic fellowships for girls’ midwifery

• Strengthening services reproductive health centers

• Constructing & equipping maternal & child health centers

• Increasing utilization of reproductive health services

• Constructing comprehensive and basic emergency obstetric care centers

• Provision & expansion of neonatal & premature health services

• Upgrading and equipping neonatal care sections

Psychiatric Health Services

The program aims at contributing to the national efforts to expand and improve psychiatric health care services through a set of policies and actions out of which is:

• Development and enhancement of psychiatric health policies and strategies in Yemen

• Strengthening psychiatric health care services

• Constructing psychiatric health care centers

• Awareness and capacity building