A decade of devastating civil war in Syria reached a critical turning point on Sunday, as rebel forces removed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power and took control of the capital city, Damascus.
The prolonged conflict resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and caused severe damage to Syria’s healthcare infrastructure. More than half of the country’s hospitals and primary care centers were destroyed or significantly damaged, while the majority of healthcare providers fled the country in search of safety. Factors such as malnutrition, winter exposure, and limited access to medical care and treatments contributed to excess deaths.
Humanitarian aid channels into Syria have long been fraught with challenges due to shifting military control, international diplomacy, and fluctuations in funding and supply chains. Nonetheless, Direct Relief has maintained close partnerships with partners working on the ground in Syria and a steady flow of funding and material medical aid into the country, even at moments when other aid was scarce. In the past six months alone, Direct Relief has provided 13 shipments of material medical aid, valued at more than $48 million, to Syrian medical partners.
In addition, 11 Direct Relief shipments to the Syrian American Medical Society, MedGlobal Syria, the Independent Doctors Association, and Syria Relief & Development are currently in process, including two shipments in Turkey awaiting last-mile transport. These shipments contain emergency medications and supplies, chronic disease medications, Midwife Kits, hygiene items, and other requested support.
Direct Relief’s established humanitarian channels remain operational, allowing aid to continue flowing. Although the organization’s emergency response team is still working to glean a larger sense of the logistics and need on the ground, partners in Syria are sending in specialized teams to assess healthcare facilities, prisons, and medical needs of the general public.
An ambulance and referral system in northwest Syria, run by Syria Relief & Development and supported by Direct Relief, has been actively responding to increasing hostilities over the past several days. The system, which includes eight ambulances and 10 patient transportation vehicles, connects patients to more than 100 healthcare facilities across Syria’s northwest. Over the past year, Direct Relief has provided more than $3 million in funding and 49 tons of medical material aid to this area of the country.
Large-scale population movement in the aftermath of the war, and new assessments of previously inaccessible areas, are likely to contribute to a changing picture of geographic distribution and health needs in the coming days and weeks. Syrian partners have communicated that high priorities include reestablishing public health facilities and providing medical first aid and emergency psychosocial support.
Because the Syrian war was so long-lasting, healthcare nonprofits working on the ground have focused additional efforts to improve specialty care and build resilient, up-to-date medical and training facilities, even against a backdrop of conflict. Direct Relief has long supported these efforts, providing material aid and funding for oncology, maternal health, and a simulation lab used for medical training, among other projects, in addition to the organization’s large-scale support for primary and emergent medical care.
Direct Relief is in close communication with partners on the ground to evaluate immediate medical needs and long-term strategy. The organization remains committed to supporting health care in Syria, and will continue to respond as needed.
Alexandra Kelleher, Holland Bool, and Dan Hovey provided reporting for this update.
