Expat insurance and health insurance in Yemen

France Diplomatie states that the Yemeni health system has been completely dismantled since spring 2015. Hospitals experience frequent power cuts, which sometimes leave them unable to treat patients. The same source notes the resurgence of cholera and polio outbreaks linked to deteriorating hygiene conditions, as well as a health alert regarding a rise in measles cases (13 March 2026). No local medical emergency number nor any list of reference hospitals for foreign nationals is publicly disclosed by France Diplomatie or CLEISS for Yemen: this information remains not publicly disclosed.

Care provision relies largely on humanitarian organisations. According to Médecins Sans Frontières, the organisation notably supports the Abs general hospital (Hajjah governorate), whose capacity has grown from 30 to 288 beds, the Mocha general hospital (Taiz governorate, with a 54-bed maternity unit and a 72-bed paediatric unit), Al-Kuwait hospital in Sanaa (emergency support) and the Haydan hospital (Saada governorate, malnutrition and maternal care), as well as trauma and surgery services in Aden. Over 2025, MSF reports having carried out over 386,600 outpatient consultations and assisted over 30,500 births in Yemen. Given the fragility of the system and the closure of the French embassy, medical evacuation should be anticipated for any serious condition, with no certainty that it can be organised from Yemeni territory.

• Mandatory visa for French nationals, to apply for before departure with the Yemen embassy in Paris (25, rue Georges Bizet, 75116 Paris); no visa is issued on arrival in Yemeni territory.
• Entry health measures: no specific measure is mentioned by France Diplomatie for Yemen (as of 15/09/2026).
• No legally named health insurance requirement for entry has been identified in the sources consulted; France Diplomatie generally recommends checking your insurance cover before any travel — a check all the more critical since medical evacuation and repatriation can never be organised by the French embassy, closed since 2015.
• Vaccinations to consider depending on profile and length of stay, according to France Diplomatie: standard French vaccines up to date (diphtheria, tetanus, polio, whooping cough, measles), hepatitis A, hepatitis B and typhoid fever depending on length of stay, tuberculosis (children under 15 on extended stays), rabies (particularly for young children in rural areas), and Mpox vaccination depending on exposure risk.
• CFE recommended, as no France-Yemen agreement coordinates the health branch.

Security context, addressed here only from the angle of access to care and assistance: France Diplomatie formally advises against any stay across the entirety of Yemeni territory (red zone), with no exception zone, due to active fighting and risks of assassination and kidnapping described as very high (updated 15/09/2026). The French embassy in Sanaa has been closed since 13 February 2015; French nationals present at the time were invited to leave the country. Consular matters for French nationals in Yemen now fall under the French embassy in Djibouti (Service France Consulaire, +33 3 59 39 70 03). The sources consulted mention no evacuation scheme organised by the French authorities from Yemeni territory.

No bilateral social security agreement exists between France and Yemen: the country is absent from CLEISS's list of bilateral social security agreements, whether in force or signed but not yet applied.

• No coordination of rights between the two schemes, whatever the branch (health-maternity, old age, workplace accidents, family benefits).
• No totalisation of insurance periods, no export of rights.
• No form equivalent to the SE 401/350/351 used with other countries.
• A French resident in Yemen has no identified statutory public health coverage scheme in the sources consulted: only the Caisse des Français de l’Étranger (CFE) or private international health insurance provide effective coverage, including medical evacuation.

1. Before any travel: check France Diplomatie's regularly updated travel advice, as the entirety of Yemeni territory is formally advised against, with no exception zone.
2. Before departure: apply for a visa with the Yemen embassy in Paris (25, rue Georges Bizet, 75116 Paris), and check for health cover including hospitalisation and medical evacuation / repatriation, as the French embassy cannot organise any evacuation from Yemeni territory.
3. Before departure: consult a travel doctor for recommended vaccinations (standard French vaccines up to date, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, rabies, Mpox depending on profile and length of stay).
4. Register on Ariane to receive France Diplomatie's security alerts before and during any travel.
5. For any administrative consular matter: as the French embassy in Sanaa has been closed since 2015, contact the French embassy in Djibouti (Service France Consulaire, +33 3 59 39 70 03), responsible for French nationals in Yemen.
6. Voluntary CFE membership recommended, as no France-Yemen agreement coordinates the health branch.