Residents in the Idlib region, which is under the control of the Salvation Government, the civilian front of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, complain about the lack of support in the medical sector by humanitarian organizations, and a number of medical facilities have stopped working, most notably those of women and children, at a time when the region is experiencing a deterioration in the economic and living conditions. The absence of job opportunities and high prices prompted many families to launch appeals to save the medical situation and consider the condition of the population.
The medical sector in Idlib is one of the sectors that has received the most international support and attention from international organizations since the beginning of the Syrian revolution. However, this did not help in establishing a solid ground for the health sector, as today it lacks many components, although it is one of the most important fields due to population density and deterioration. The economic situation in the region.
About 4,703,846 people live in northwestern Syria (Idlib governorate and parts of Lattakia, Hama and Aleppo governorates), within areas controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, including 1,674,918 forcibly displaced people from different regions in Syria.
Al-Ikhaa Hospital stopped
“Fatima Al-Sayed,” 45 years old, displaced from the southern countryside of Aleppo and lives in the Golan camp in the town of Atmeh on the Syrian-Turkish border, confirms that the absence of support from the free Al-Ikhaa hospital in the town will cause a disaster, especially since she is unable to follow up on her six children if they fall ill. in private hospitals.
In her interview with Orient Net, she explained, “This hospital is the closest to my place of residence, and I hope that it will not close its doors, because I am unable to afford the cost of going to another hospital.”
One of the hospital workers (on condition of anonymity) says: “Most departments in the hospital are not working and services have become very weak since the beginning of this month. I wish donors and organizations would consider this matter, as patients travel very long distances in search of medical support.
The hospital provides free services to more than 20,000 patients per month, but since the beginning of August, an international organization has completely stopped supporting it, and its contribution constituted eighty percent of the total aid it receives.
The director of the hospital, Doctor Abdul Karim al-Yassin, told Orient Net that the hospital was serving the camps for the displaced located in the town of Atmeh and its environs, and from the Deir Hassan area to the Bab al-Hawa area to the Turkish border. Of the Afrin region, north of Aleppo.
He explained that the children’s department in the hospital contains 22 beds, and sometimes the number of admitted children reaches twice the number of beds, and the hospital also contains 14 baby incubators, 4 ventilators, 4 CIBAPS devices, 2 Blundner devices, and 3 childcare beds, pointing out that the support for the hospital has stopped and the use of these devices has stopped. A wide range of advanced services will be deprived, especially neonatal care, which is unique in northern Syria.
The hospital serves 3,000 women a month
As for the gynecology department, Al-Yassin confirms that the hospital has natural and cesarean deliveries, as well as an outpatient department, a free pharmacy, and a free x-ray laboratory.
The World Health Organization links the decline in support for hospitals in Idlib and its environs to a lack of funding in the first place, as the possibility of continued cessation of support for hospitals and medical centers warns of an imminent catastrophe in Idlib, especially since the Health Organization confirms in its statistics that there are 3.1 million people out of a total of 4.7 million in northwest. Syria needs health assistance.
In turn, Doctor Ayham al-Khalaf, the medical officer in the Atmeh region, confirms that Al-Ikhaa Hospital is one of the most important women’s hospitals in an area full of camps for the displaced, as it provides medical services to more than five thousand women per month, including cases of childbirth, nursery, and treatment of infants. Free of charge to nearly three thousand children with thalassemia for free.
He pointed out that the cessation of support means stopping the provision of medical services to this number of women whose deteriorating living conditions do not allow them to receive paid treatment. As for children with anemia; They will inevitably face the fate of certain death with the closure of the hospital.
Sham Children’s Hospital stopped
In the city of Sarmada, where there is a huge population density, the Children’s Hospital of the Cham Foundation breathed its last, as its support stopped since the beginning of the seventh month of July, as it was mediating more than 40 villages and towns in the Idlib region and the western countryside of Aleppo, and it was also considered one of the most serviceable hospitals for children. Because of the large number of beds inside it and its medical equipment.
Regarding the reasons for stopping support for the medical points of the Cham Foundation, the Director of the Media Office of the Foundation, “Maher Salmawi”, considered that there is a wrong part for some, which is stopping support for most of the medical points of the Cham Foundation because it is not true, stressing that there is no stopping support for most medical projects and showing the matter It is intended and comprehensive, pointing out that the humanitarian projects of the Sham Foundation, especially the medical ones, are working well and providing their services on a daily basis.
With regard to Cham Children’s Hospital, he said: “The hospital is like the rest of the other medical projects of the institution. There is a project period that ends and is extended, or there may be a short interruption period pending the start of another project, and even during this period work is done and services are provided within the hospital.” We hope that support will return to these points as soon as possible.”
Al-Salmawi refused to reveal any other reasons for stopping support, or the services that the hospital was providing to the population during its normal work before the interruption, or the number of cases it received monthly, justifying the existence of a technical error.
Children are the victims
However, Doctor Al-Yassin, who was previously the Director of Aleppo Health, warned in his interview with Orient Net that this particular point would stop because of the large number of incubators inside this hospital, which are estimated at 30 incubators, which would serve thousands of families. Those who are unable to afford the expenses of securing one incubator for their children in a private hospital because of its high cost.
Infants are considered the category most affected by the interruption of support from medical points in northern Syria, as several medical authorities confirm that the majority of children do not receive the medical care they need at the required level, and that in some cases children replace others in incubators according to the severity of their illness.
In a previous interview with the Deputy Director of Idlib Health, Dr. Hussam Qara Muhammad, to Orient website, the incubators department is one of the pillars of any children’s hospital in Idlib, as it is an essential department for providing reproductive health services, with the aim of its close connection between the number of births and the number of children. Those who need advanced care in the incubation department.
He explained at the time that the number of incubators in Idlib region hospitals is 181 operating incubators, stressing that these incubators are insufficient compared to the massive population pressure in northern Syria and the recent waves of displacement to Idlib.
He pointed out that all incubators operating in the region have expired, and that many of them are in service, but are not within validity and real quality. Rather, they are used because of the urgent need and the inability to secure new incubators, indicating that there are 28 incubators in hospitals under maintenance.
He explained that the region is witnessing a very high occupancy rate and that it varies according to the seasonality of diseases, pointing out that the Directorate is working diligently in coordination with partners from medical organizations and donors to increase the number of incubators and increase the absorptive capacity, noting that the Directorate was able to restore hospitals to work recently after the support for them had previously stopped. .
In summary, the deterioration in the medical situation in northern Syria will greatly affect the condition of the population and their deteriorating economic conditions, which can be summarized in the widespread increase in the poverty rate, as UN estimates speak of more than 91 percent of Syrians falling into poverty, but The researchers’ expectations go to confirm that the most important impact of the current conditions lies in increasing the percentage of people who suffer from extreme poverty.
The official survey, prepared with the World Food Program, reveals that 8.3% of Syrian families suffer from a severe decline in their food security, 47.2% from an average decrease, 39.4% enjoy an acceptable level of security, but are at risk of losing their food security, and only 5.1% is the percentage of safe families.
2023-08-07 08:06:46
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