Photos: Yemen’s hospitals struggle to operate amid persistent power outages

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports from Aden, Yemen, where persistent electricity cuts are shaping everyday life and putting pressure on essential services. The photo story shows how repeated blackouts leave homes hot and dark, spoil food, interrupt sleep and push residents outdoors in search of cooler air. It also highlights how children, students and families adapt to a routine built around when power is available.

The report says Yemen’s electricity problems predate the current war, but have worsened since 2015 because of damaged infrastructure, fuel shortages and aging power systems. In Aden, power stations have faced repeated shutdowns, and the article cites an IMF assessment this year saying the city receives only two to six hours of electricity a day. The piece also notes that higher insurance costs for fuel tankers may be adding to the strain.

Hospitals are portrayed as especially vulnerable because equipment such as operating rooms, intensive care units, laboratories, refrigerators and dialysis machines require continuous power. The World Health Organization says recurring outages disrupt health services across Yemen, and it has supplied fuel to keep generators running at many facilities. The article features a kidney patient in Aden who worries about whether dialysis can continue during outages.

Al Jazeera says solar panels, batteries and generators are now common across Yemen, with more than half of homes using some form of solar power, according to WHO. The story suggests these systems provide only partial relief for those who can afford them, underscoring how the electricity crisis continues to affect health care, education and daily life.