MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2020) The World Health Organization has launched a $35 million worth of response plan to address the poor preparedness of northwestern Syria for a potential coronavirus outbreak, Mahmoud Daher, the head of WHO operations in northwestern Syria, said in an interview with Sputnik.
"A comprehensive preparedness and response plan has been launched, with an estimated budget of $35 million to support eight technical areas, led by a 15-member Task Force. This plan is aligned with the WHO Global 2019 Novel Coronavirus Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, but tailored to the context in northwestern Syria," Daher said.
According to the official, there is an overall lack of medical capacities, such as isolation units, intensive care unit beds, infection control material, personal protection equipment and adequately trained staff, to address the threat of a potential outbreak in the area.
"There are 306 functional health facilities in the northwest [of Syria], managed by 57 health partners. The total number of ventilators available is 203 and ICU beds are 347, including those in hospitals supported by Turkey. The number of health workers in the northwest, per population of 10,000 is only eight, far below the minimum standard," Daher said.
As of Friday, there have been no confirmed COVID-19 cases in northwestern Syria.
