Abstract

Purpose: The objective of this survey is to analyze the Otorhinolaryngology Care in Yemen. The survey was undertaken to provide the foundation for an evidence-based plan for improving ear, nose, and throat (ENT) care services in Yemen specially ear and hearing care.

Methods: To review ENT services for the year 2020, standardized questionnaire was distributed to 248 ENT clinics in 22 different Yemeni governorates.

Results: Yemen has 203 Otorhinolaryngologists, 5 of them are Audiologists, 60 trainees and 45 general practitioners who provided ENT care. Overall, there are 0.7 ENT practitioners per 100,000 population. Sana'a (capital city), the governorates of Aden, Hadramout, and Ibb have about 75% of the practicing otolaryngologists in the country. As of 2020, there are 248 ENT clinics. Among these, 75% are private facilities. In addition, there are 55 surgical otomicroscope, of which 30 (55%) are in Sana'a. In 2019, the handicap ward rehabilitation fund together with NGOs cover only around 12% of hearing handicaps cases.

Conclusions: the level of ENT care in Yemen is relatively lower than that in other countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). Improvements are necessary with respect to the number and level of training of otolaryngologists, and distribution of ENT care personnel, facilities, equipments, and support staff especially in rural areas. A national evidence-based plan for prevention of deafness is also needed.

Keywords: Otorhinolaryngology; Analysis; Yemen

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Citation

Citation: Mohamed Y Al-Mahbashi., et al. “Analysis of Otorhinolaryngology Care in Yemen". Acta Scientific Otolaryngology 2.12 (2020): 80-86.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Mohamed Y Al-Mahbashi., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.