Abstract

The paper explores the security incidents affecting medical humanitarian work in Yemen and the ways MSF as well as other health practitioners try to securitize their staff, facilities, patients. This reflection was born out of the high number of security incidents affecting MSF in the past three years, as much as a shared analysis by Yemeni health professionals that doctors in the country are particularly exposed to insecurity and suffer a chronic lack of respect from the patients. ‘What is an incident?’, ‘How to assess a threat?’, ‘How to react to it?’ are some of the questions looked at in the paper. Specifically, the author studies the link that exists between insecurity and the quality of the medical act, taking into consideration elements such as the patient – doctor relationship as well as the adequacy of meeting the social demand for medical services.

Author

Michaël Neuman