Current Healthcare Status

A staggering 1 out of every 2 public health facilities in Syria is either non-operational or partly operational[1]. 770 health workers have been killed over the course of the Syrian war and many others have fled the country[2]. In 2016 alone, there were reportedly 101 attacks on health care facilities in Syria[3], including on key hospitals in Meles, Sarmin, and Kafar Takharim in Idlib Province. Attacks have continued in 2017, with the main hospital serving Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib Province, having been attacked just days before the alleged chemical weapons attack in the area. In addition to the destruction of hospitals, aid actors are finding it increasingly difficult to bring supplies and staff into Syria and to conduct medical evacuations from the country[5]. At the same time, malnutrition rates have risen within the country[6]. Of the 12.8 million civilians in need of health assistance within Syria, “those at increased risk include… unvaccinated children [and] pregnant women without access to life-saving obstetric care or essential reproductive health care…”[7]

The needs for trained staff in Idleb, Hama and Aleppo is very high due to the leakage of the health workers to Turkey. Idleb alone has a population of 1,907,306 (including contains 809,355 IDPs) according to the NPM’s mobility and dynamic report_March2017. Most of the 250,000 IDPs live in camps that are located near the borders with turkey in Idleb and some in Aleppo (according to ACU-Dynamo_Febuary 2017) .

Taking into consideration:

• The increasing opportunities for these staff to work in Turkey now, and the escalation of attacks on health facilities and personnel in these regions pushed most of the skilled surgeons and specialists to leave the country, just due to the lack of security. Most of them are in Turkey with their families, and are willing to work inside Syria if security status is better (they are not asking for perfect security situation). Therefore, this need is met by building/rehabilitating underground hospitals.
• The available staff who have the willingness to stay and serve in Syria, are in dire need to improve their skills, and most of them are not specialists yet or in many cases are only medical students.
• The uncertified midwives are main reason for the complications of the deliveries in these areas.
• High number of complications while transferring patients/wounded due to lack of experience of Paramedics/First Responders.
• The advance health services especially for Women & Children are scarce and these groups should travel to Turkey to get the needed services, which is not possible most of the time and might take long time that will expose these kids and mothers to complications and sometimes death.