Al Jazeera Net correspondents
12/29/2023-|Last update: 12/29/202302:27 PM (Mecca time)
Northern Syria- The young man, Ahmed Al Rajeh, expresses his happiness after receiving free doses and medicines for his father, who suffers from colon cancer, a day after the Qatar Red Crescent distributed thousands of doses and cancer medicines in northern Syria.
Ahmed previously suffered from his inability to obtain medicine because the price of one dose was $150, not to mention the price of immunological treatments that he could not afford, which prompted him to seek the help of humanitarian organizations in this regard.
Al-Rajeh told Al-Jazeera Net that the situation of cancer patients in northern Syria has improved over the past months, after the campaign that raised more than 500 thousand dollars for their treatment, and the recent entry of medicines into hospitals, which alleviated the suffering of thousands of patients.
Qatar Red Crescent launched the “Hope and Healing” campaign to collect donations for cancer patients in northern Syria (Al Jazeera)
Reducing the burden
He added that most patients’ families do not have enough money to afford their monthly doses, which forces them to go to Turkey and bear the hardship of the road and large travel expenses. He stressed that their access to doses and medicines inside Syria will greatly reduce their travel burden.
SAMS, a medical organization working in the medical sector in northwestern Syria, received a batch of medicines to treat cancer patients in the region, provided by the Qatar Red Crescent.
The “Idlib Health Directorate” said that it had delivered “specific” chemical and immunological medicines to the organization and equipment for diagnosing the disease.
She pointed out that the quantity included 12,000 doses of intravenous medications and 32,000 doses of oral medications, stressing that “they are all expensive high-quality medications that families cannot afford.”
The head of the representative office of the Qatar Red Crescent in Turkey, Mazen Abdullah, says that with the aim of contributing to reducing the death rate and enhancing patients’ access to health care services, the Crescent has allocated an amount of one million dollars to provide basic cancer medicines to treat 791 refugee and displaced patients residing in northern Syria for a period of 5 months.
Abdullah added – to Al Jazeera Net – that the capabilities of 25 medical personnel working in diagnostic and treatment centers were built, and 46 types of high-cost chemical and immunological cancer drugs were supplied to the Qatar Red Crescent warehouses in northern Syria, as well as diagnostic and early treatment devices that will provide their services to 3. Thousands and 500 patients.
According to Abdullah, these equipment included drug mixers, microscopes with an electronic screen, water heaters, pharmaceutical refrigerators to store medicines, and dry sterilizers. It was delivered to the Idlib Health Directorate for distribution to cancer treatment centers spread across northern Syria “according to the approved distribution plan.”
Positive effect
The head of the representative office pointed out the recruitment of trainers in the field of mental health and social support to train medical personnel working in oncology treatment centers on psychological first aid for cancer patients and their families.
Abdullah continued, “The project will contribute to the early detection and treatment of cancer patients for all age groups, males and females, by providing modern diagnostic devices and therapeutic drugs and building the capabilities of workers in this field in coordination with partners and health directorates.”
Abdullah expected a positive social and economic impact of the campaign by covering the gap in the lack of supply chains for cancer treatment centers, which helps to continue life-saving specialized services for free.
The number of beneficiaries of the project is estimated at 3,700 direct beneficiaries and 18,500 indirect beneficiaries.
The number of documented cancer patients in northwestern Syria is estimated at about 6,000, and about 3,100 in the Idlib region (north) alone. Among the patients are approximately 600 people whose cancer was documented after the earthquake that struck the north of the country last February, and the numbers change daily as a result of deaths and the diagnosis of new cases.
Part of the process of delivering cancer drugs in northern Syria (Al Jazeera)
Great needs
The Director of Health in Idlib, Zuhair Qarat, said that the Qatari Red Crescent “coordinated with us by allocating funds to purchase the necessary medicines and equipment for cancer, and they provided us with the first batch, which includes about 46 types of medicines, including chemical and immunological treatments for cancer, and about 12 pieces of equipment, including microscopes and sterilizers that help in diagnosis and analysis.” Laboratory for cancer patients.
Karat stressed that these medicines are very important, because they provide relief for inpatients in treating a significant number of diseases, especially immunotherapies that are expensive and rare, and cannot be easily provided.
He explained that there are great needs that vary between chemical, radiological, and immunological treatments, required investigations, and laboratory and medical analyses, pointing out that there are increasing demands and a very great need to diagnose cases and patients and begin treating them.
Karat said that this will reduce the suffering of cancer patients and reduce their transfer to Turkey, expressing his hope that such campaigns and donations will continue and that medicines and equipment will be secured to reach a stage where all cancer patients are treated inside Syria.
Charity campaign
Last August, the Qatar Red Crescent launched a charitable campaign under the slogan “Hope and Healing,” to ensure continuity of treatment and life-saving medical care for cancer patients in northern Syria, by collecting donations totaling 5 million and 60 thousand Qatari riyals to provide basic medications for chemotherapy and immunotherapy. For the benefit of 220 cancer patients from Syrian refugees and displaced persons for an entire year.
For its part, Al-Hilal took the initiative to allocate an amount of one million dollars to urgently secure quantities of medicines, diagnostic and therapeutic equipment, especially a tomography device to detect a wide range of diseases and disorders, most notably cancer, a device that is not available in northern Syria at all.
Dr. Omar Al-Ahmad, head of the oncology department at SAMS, confirms that most agencies support specialized centers for treating oncology in the city of Idlib, the Bab al-Hawa area in the Idlib countryside, and the city of al-Bab and Jarabulus in the Aleppo countryside. These centers provide free doses for breast, colon, testicular, and ovarian cancers, in addition to Acute leukemia in children.
Al-Ahmad added to Al Jazeera Net that in the coming days, stomach and bladder cancer patients will be supported with free doses, and these centers will provide consultation, examinations, surgery, diagnosis, radiology, analysis, follow-up and early detection services for all types of cancer.
It is noteworthy that last October, the Al-Amin Humanitarian Support Organization, in cooperation with the Turkish Health Organization, introduced a radiological device to treat cancerous tumors to the military hospital in the city of Afrin in the Aleppo countryside, with the aim of alleviating the suffering of cancer patients in opposition-controlled areas in northwestern Syria.
2023-12-29 11:28:37
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