WHO plans to continue support to hospitals, healthcare facilities in NW Syria

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) – The World Health Organization said Tuesday it plans to continue supporting hospitals and healthcare facilities in opposition-held northwest Syria and bring relief to the over 4 million people living in the conflict zone.

The WHO was asked by Anadolu Agency about civilians in Syria forcibly displaced by the Bashar al-Assad regime and its supporters deprived of hospital services after international aid groups cut their assistance to 18 hospitals in and around the northwestern province of Idlib.

"The Health Cluster for northwest Syria, led by WHO, received reports about some hospitals which will cease functioning due to a lack of financial resources," said the WHO in a written statement.

"WHO plans to continue to support hospitals and health care facilities inside northwest Syria and to bring relief to the over 4 million people that are living in the ongoing conflict-zone."

The world health group said it and its partners are actively seeking funds to counteract the recent closing down of several hospitals it supports in northwest Syria.

- Hospitals attacked

As the Syrian civil war continues to rage in its 11th year, the regime and its backers have attacked hundreds of hospitals.

Hundreds of health workers lost their lives in these attacks, while many health centers became inoperable after international support for healthcare organizations was cut off.

In Idlib, tens of thousands of civilians are now deprived of hospital services, as the province suffers from a shortage of healthcare facilities and drugs.

Healthcare workers and locals stress the need for international assistance to resume for hospitals to reopen and treatment to continue.

Ahmet Abu Hussein, who was displaced by regime attacks on the district of Maarat al-Numan in southern Idlib, told Anadolu Agency that many people are suffering in poverty,

He said they did not have money to seek private medical care or even purchase needed medicine.

Calling on aid organizations that have halted financial support to hospitals in Idlib, Abu Hussein underlined the need to speak out and to consider the situation of forcibly displaced civilians.

"The weather is cold. Hospitals are closing, as if the suffering of people living in tents amid the difficult winter conditions is not enough," he said.

Fatma Hariri, also displaced from Maarat al-Numan, said she had no means to go to a private hospital and did not know what to do.

"We lost everything we had ... I hope the hospitals start receiving support again," she said.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on Saturday, Salem Abdane, Idlib's health director, said that international aid organizations had cut their financial and logistics support for 18 hospitals in the province and warned that health care is at risk of collapse.