In that region, whose population exceeds 4 million, there are several hospitals, in addition to medical points and emergency centers, most of which work through the support provided by European organizations (donors), under contracts, part of which is for six months and the other for a whole year. , renewed annually.
The foregoing comes at a time when the region is experiencing a “human tragedy,” according to the description of the United Nations, especially in the camps in which more than a million and a half civilians live, distributed between organized and random gatherings.
So far, the reasons that led to the cessation of support for hospitals in the region are not known, while workers in the medical sector point out that it is related to the “vortex” that is renewed from year to year. Not only now, but it goes back to the previous years of the war.
Doctor Salem Abdan, director of health in the northwestern province of Idlib, told Al-Hurra: “There is no self-support or sustainable support for the health sector in northwest Syria, due to the war situation and the absence of an internationally recognized official body.”
“The health sector depends on the support provided by international donors through humanitarian organizations operating in the region.”
Abdan adds: “Supporting any hospital or health center is legitimate, with a specified period of 6 months, or one or two years,” explaining: “It is life-saving support that is not permanent, and at the end of the project’s term, the funding of the hospital or health center stops.”
“Search for a donor”
The hospitals that have stopped supporting by the “donors” are “Al-Rahma in Darkush” (the largest and most important hospital in Idlib), “Al-Salam for women and children”, “Takharim Hospital”, “Al-Madina Women’s Hospital”.
In addition to the children’s hospital in the Kali area, the Al-Dakhiliya Hospital in Idlib and the “Save a Soul” hospital in Salqin, as well as other centers and hospitals, distributed mostly in rural areas and Idlib’s densely populated areas.
Health directorates and supporting organizations through the health sector (affiliated with the World Health Organization in Turkey) are currently “searching for a donor for hospitals and health centers”.
According to Doctor Abdan, “the failure to renew and stop support increases the burden on the health sector, especially in light of the Corona pandemic that has hit the region for more than a year.”
For his part, the official in charge of the “Covid-19” file in northwest Syria, Dr. Husam Qara Muhammad, indicates that the stoppage of support not only included 18 medical facilities, but in the past days included a larger number.
Qara Muhammad added to Al-Hurra: “So far, there are no clear reasons. We were only informed that the financial grants stopped suddenly.”
‘donors only’
While Doctor Hossam Qara Muhammad says that the only solution to the continuation of the hospitals’ work is “voluntary work,” the Idlib Health Director, Dr. Salem Abdan, points out that “the work of hospitals at the present time continues at a minimum, until the end of their operational materials.”
“As for our situation, there is no state. There is no endowment. There are no insurance companies. There is only the private sector (here the patient himself pays all costs) and donors.”
On January 5, the World Health Organization issued an “emergency appeal” to provide $257.6 million to meet critical health needs in Syria, maintain basic health care, including response to COVID-19, provide life-saving services and build a resilient health system.
The organization indicated in a statement that in 2022, “12.2 million people will need health assistance. Of these, four million displaced people, 1.33 million children under the age of five, and 3.38 million women of childbearing age.”
According to the health sector severity scale, according to the United Nations website, the most dangerous areas are located and will continue to exist in five governorates in northwestern and northeastern Syria.
A United Nations statement earlier this year added that “out of the 4.4 million people currently living in northwest Syria, 3.1 million are in need of health assistance.”
Critical challenges are linked to increased insecurity, displacement and high levels of poverty, according to the statement.
‘threatened to collapse’
Meanwhile, Syrian activists and workers in the medical and humanitarian fields in northwestern Syria launched a campaign on social media under the hashtag “#Support_North_Hospitals”.
The campaign participants shared photos and videos of patients and medical staff from Idlib hospitals, and demanded the return of support to them, warning of a “humanitarian catastrophe” in the region.
Media activist Ahmed al-Atrash, one of the campaign participants, says that “the continuation of stopping support for other hospitals will cause a major health crisis in the region.”
He added to Al-Hurra: “There is a high cost of living in private hospitals, with the lack of financial income for many Syrians in the area.”
As for the media official in the “Syrian Civil Defense”, Firas Khalifa, he indicated that “5 million people in a narrow geographical area and stopping support for 18 hospitals threatens to spread epidemics and diseases with the great danger of the Corona virus and its variants.”
Doctor Salem Abdan considered that if the situation remains as it is, this will “threaten the collapse of the health sector, the increase in the spread of diseases, and the lack of access for the vulnerable to health services.”
The number of patients who visit medical facilities is more than 60 thousand civilians on a monthly basis.
And the Syrian doctor continues: “A number of Idlib hospitals will be supported by the beginning of the second month by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, while a number of others will remain without support.”
Less than a year ago, a report by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) revealed the extent of the destruction caused by a decade of attacks on health facilities in Syria, which led to a significant paralysis in the country’s ability to confront the emerging Corona virus.
The years of war drained the health system throughout Syria, with the destruction of hospitals and the shortage of medical personnel, and the outbreak of the epidemic worsened the situation.
About 70 percent of the health sector workers left the country, according to the committee’s report, while the ratio is now one doctor for every 10,000 Syrians. In an attempt to make up for the shortage, workers in this field are forced to work more than 80 hours per week.
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