“…Medicine has become a weapon of war. Omar Khalili (name changed), a UK-based emergency medicine consultant working with the Syrian British Medical Society, explains how a hospital hit by an airstrike makes headline news on state television. ‘They call it a successful mission against terrorists.'”
Dr. Saleyha Ahsan reports on the difficulties in providing medical care in Syria, in this article in the medical journal, The Lancet.
“Almost two-thirds of the nation’s hospitals have been badly damaged or destroyed, 92 percent of the ambulances in affected areas are out of service, and the vast majority of the nation’s doctors, nurses and other health workers have fled or have been killed. The few health care facilities that remain generally have no fuel, electricity or water…”
See the article at the San Francisco Gate.
From the Huffington Post UK, 30 October 2013, a look at how the deliberate targeting of medical professionals in Syria, the departure of many medical professionals, and destruction of more than half the nation’s medical facilities will affect the ability to rebuild a health infrastructure in Syria.
“Doctors report that demolished hospitals and humanitarian blockades have left some Syrians to suffer, awake, through amputations and Caesarean sections…As international attention to Syria wanes, all of these horrors are still happening….”
Please read this important editorial from Samer Attar .
Here’s an ABC News story from 26 October 2013 regarding medical care in Syria, and the lack of facilities, even electricity.
Syrian-American orthopedic surgeon Dr. Samer Attar, talking about his medical work near Aleppo:
“There were people who requested amputations because they couldn’t live any more with a leg with exposed bone and pus just pouring out of the wound. A number of the amputations were on children…”
The Syrian Medical Centre, also known as Dar al-Istshfaa, is a refuge for those wounded in Syria requiring long-term care and rehabilitation. The centre, which has been running for more than a year, was founded by the Paris-based Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organisations (UOSSM), a coalition of 14 independent medical and relief organisations.
Palmyra Relief 