A devastating earthquake after Corona and cholera reveals the inability of hospitals in northern Syria

Idlib

- The medical sector in the areas controlled by the opposition factions in northern Syria is facing a real catastrophe, after the recent earthquake that struck the region and claimed the lives of hundreds of victims and thousands of injured, in addition to those trapped under the rubble.

The support allocated to more than 18 major hospitals and medical points in northwest Syria by the humanitarian organizations supporting these hospitals during the past months has stopped.

The captain of the "Free Doctors" in northern Syria, Walid al-Tamer, told Al-Jazeera Net - that there are many challenges and difficulties faced by the medical sector and hospitals inside northern Syria, some of which are temporary imposed by reality and natural accidents, such as the Corona epidemic and other epidemics such as cholera, as well as earthquakes and earthquakes as well. This happened recently, in addition to the chronic challenges and difficulties such as the lack of specific and rare medical materials for some patients and the devices needed for heart patients.

Challenges and difficulties

Regarding the problems facing patients, Al-Tamer added that there are no doses of chemical drugs for cancer patients, which forces patients to travel to neighboring countries to receive the necessary treatment, in addition to the lack of financial and logistical support such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and CT scan machines, which are very rarely available in hospitals. Which leads to doctors being exhausted.

In his speech, he pointed out that the challenges and difficulties continue so far at the level of chronic challenges and emergency challenges, and hospitals and doctors are in a constant struggle with these obstacles.

Northern Syria has recently become completely dependent on medical schools in Idlib and Aleppo and on doctors who have recently graduated there.

Overcrowding of patients in a hospital with poor capabilities (Al Jazeera Net)

In this regard, Tamer explains that these new graduates have become a cornerstone of the medical sector in northern Syria, and these cadres need a greater expansion in specializations, and this requires a larger number of hospitals that cover all specialties, and it also needs equipment that facilitates their work.

He pointed out that hospitals need an academic hospital to facilitate the training of these competencies in order to be a renewed tributary.

He pointed to the severe shortage in difficult medical specializations such as cardiologists and internal surgeons, so the Health Directorate in Idlib and Aleppo seeks to provide them to meet the growing need for them.

Al-Tamer saw that hospitals are in a state of shock after the recent earthquake disaster, due to the lack of a strategy to deal with emergencies, pointing out that the lack of strategic plans leads to complete helplessness in dealing with crises.

He stated that after the recent earthquake, hospitals were in dire need of the most basic needs, such as first aid, anesthetics, splints and plates needed for bone fractures.

He concluded by saying that these challenges and difficulties must be dealt with and supplies provided, so that hospitals are able to face disasters that occur without prior warning.

A real tragedy

The regions of northern Syria are experiencing a real human tragedy, according to the description of the United Nations, especially in the camps where more than 1.5 million people live, between organized and random gatherings.

The region was subjected to several disasters, starting with the outbreak of the Corona virus, followed by the cholera epidemic, and the last of which was the earthquake, which led to the medical staff declaring their inability to receive more patients.

The director of health in Idlib, Zuhair Karrat, told Al-Jazeera Net that the hospitals in northern Syria are completely full and can hardly accommodate a new patient, which prompted the medical staff to use health centers, such as clinics and public clinics, to receive the earthquake victims.

He added that most of the problems and obstacles facing medical personnel are the shortage of intensive care rooms and neurosurgery specialties, in addition to respirators.

An ambulance carrying several injured people due to poor capabilities in northern Syria (Al-Jazeera Net)

And he considered that the basic and necessary supplies that hospitals need are primary medicines such as medical gauze, painkillers, and anesthetics, in addition to the hospitals' need for fuel to operate the oxygen generating stations needed for patients, as the electricity was cut off due to the recent disaster, which made hospitals depend on simple generators.

Karrat expressed his regret over the loss of a number of cadres of technicians and administrators in the medical sector in northern Syria due to the earthquake.

He pointed out that the hospitals, despite their inability to accommodate this large number of injured, received all the wounded who sought refuge in them, who were distributed to all hospitals in Idlib governorate.

It is worth noting that in the northwestern region of Syria - which has a population of more than 4 million people - there are several hospitals, in addition to medical points and emergency centers, most of which operate through the support provided by European and Arab organizations.