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From coping to structural abandonment: Reframing self-medication in Yemen's protracted conflict
Aamer Aldbyani1, Hassan A M M Almansoub2
1School of Nursing, Shandong Xiehe University, Jinan, China.
Global Public Health
|August 5, 2026
Summary
In Yemen
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Health Systems Research
- Conflict Studies
Background:
- Protracted conflict in Yemen has severely disrupted the healthcare system.
- Healthcare access and utilization patterns are fundamentally reshaped by ongoing conflict.
- Previous studies conceptualized self-medication as coping in constrained settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To re-examine self-medication and informal antibiotic use within the context of systemic health collapse in Yemen.
- To analyze self-directed care practices through a structural lens, considering enduring conditions.
- To explore the role of psychological distress and limited mental health services in health-seeking behaviors.
Main Methods:
- Structural analysis of healthcare access and utilization in a conflict setting.
- Examination of how infrastructure destruction, workforce depletion, and supply chain disruptions impact care.
- Analysis of physical, financial, and sociocultural barriers to healthcare access.
Main Results:
- Self-directed care practices in Yemen are embedded in enduring structural conditions, not temporary responses.
- Normalization of informal care, including self-prescription and community networks, is driven by systemic collapse.
- Psychological distress and lack of mental health services reinforce reliance on self-directed care.
Conclusions:
- Self-medication in Yemen is an outcome of structural conditions, not solely individual choice.
- Behavior-focused interventions are limited; addressing structural determinants of healthcare access is crucial.
- Understanding health system collapse requires acknowledging the impact of enduring structural factors.
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