Public Health Conference 2025

Welcome to the INTERYem Public Health Conference 2025

Yemen, the poorest nation in the Middle East, grapples with the region’s highest unemployment and illiteracy rates, worsened by nearly a decade of conflict that has displaced millions. Half the population lacks food security, three-quarters lack safe water, and over 80% require humanitarian aid, with rising malnutrition and limited vaccines straining the decimated health infrastructure. Public health receives less government attention than clinical medicine, hindering coordination and vaccination efforts, a situation magnified by COVID-19.

The World Health Organization emphasizes leadership, research, and surveillance in public health, yet Yemen’s weak systems struggle to monitor diseases like cholera, diphtheria, and rising non-communicable conditions such as diabetes. With only $73 per capita health spending—far below the UAE’s $1800—conflict exacerbates shortages of trained workers and resources, threatening vulnerable groups like mothers, children, and refugees. INTERYem, driven by training, education, and research, aims to empower Yemen’s dedicated healthcare workers by addressing gaps through global collaboration.

This demand-driven approach prioritizes public health training, involving stakeholders like ministries and hospitals to deliver cost-effective, quality programs. COVID-19 has further strained the system, with only 50% of hospitals operational and 19.5 million needing aid, underscoring the need for better infrastructure and surveillance.

INTERYem Core Principles

INTERYem’s primary goal is to develop staff and build capacity in Yemen’s health system, prioritizing this over short-term activities like equipment transfers. It aims to foster long-term, sustainable partnerships through dedication, consistency, and effective communication, avoiding preconceived notions by adopting a demand-driven approach.

This involves engaging Yemeni partners to identify needs, develop strategies, and adapt as circumstances evolve. While valuing individuals, INTERYem seeks a collective effort, establishing institutional arrangements and inter-professional networks for sustainable, interdisciplinary growth. It works within Yemen’s health policy frameworks to enhance the system, viewing itself as a mechanism for ongoing healthcare improvement, not an end goal.

The Purpose of INTERYem

The mission of INTERYem is to facilitate collaboration between healthcare professionals from Yemen and abroad. We hope to achieve this through exchanging ideas, sharing expertise, and building friendships, ultimately improving the education and training of healthcare professionals in Yemen to enhance the health of its people. We believe that projects linking Yemeni and international healthcare workers create opportunities to build capacity and develop health systems.

The purpose of INTERYem is to improve training, education, and research in Yemen. This can only be accomplished through collaborative and purposeful efforts with partners in Yemen and abroad. Following the conference, we aim to form a working party of dedicated individuals to design and implement evidence-based projects for public health workers in Yemen. Please join us in this journey.



Note: INTERYem is a non-political, non-sectarian organization. We encourage our conference partners to uphold these principles to meet our aims. The views expressed by any speaker may not reflect those of INTERYem, and the originality and data of all presentations remain the responsibility of the presenters