MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th July, 2020) A larger outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic would rapidly overwhelm existing facilities in Syria and interrupt continued medical care for other patients, Ahmed Fadel, operations manager for middle East countries at Doctors Without Borders (MSF) told Sputnik on Monday, adding that general medical supplies are scarce in northern part of the Middle Eastern country.
"We have repeatedly warned about how the conditions in northwestern Syria and northeastern Syria pose a huge risk in case of a spike of COVID-19 cases. The fragility of the health system in northern Syria means that an expanded COVID-19 outbreak would rapidly overwhelm the existing facilities and leave not only people with COVID-19 but also all patients with other illnesses even more short of care than they already are. For years, health facilities in northern Syria have been suffering shortage of beds, of supplies and of human resources," Fadel said.
According to Fadel, general medical supplies are scarce in northern Syria whether these are COVID-19 related items or other drugs and equipment needed to treat people suffering other diseases. Apart from this, the preparations for the pandemic have already affected the medical care available to people, especially in places like the conflict-torn province of Idlib.
The operations manager also pointed out that the difficult economic situation in the country impacts people with chronic diseases who have to ensure their own essential medical supplies.
"The economic crisis unfolding in the last months is further complicating for people access to medication. Many patients with non-communicable diseases have to buy their life saving medication, but now they are forced to allocate their dwindling salaries to cover more essential needs like water and food. And NCD [noncommunicable diseases] patients are one of the most vulnerable populations regarding COVID-19," Fadel added.
Speaking about vaccination, the MSF official said that the organization had repeatedly alerted about the drop in coverage rates, which could trigger a resurgence of diseases, such as measles. Another area of concern, according to Fadel, is sexual and reproductive health, as many patients benefiting from this service are particularly vulnerable and even more so in times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fadel added that the situation in refugee camps was especially difficult, as it also was for millions of internally displaced people in Syria.
"The situation in camps and unofficial settlements is dire in terms of sanitations and access to basics, millions of people have been fleeing for years and people lack almost everything ... In addition to that, in northwestern Syria, there are round 2.7 million internally displaced people (IDPs), many of whom live in overcrowded camps where the water and sanitation conditions are dire. For people living in these camps, an intervention based on self-isolating, social distancing and quarantining is impossible. IDPs are more exposed to the disease as entire families or even multiple families live in the same tents sharing bathrooms and lavatories, sharing cooking spaces and tools," Fadel said.
The specialist also said that the population was already facing the consequences of the war and said that "renewed clashes or bombing creating further displacements could have tremendous consequences on the hundreds of thousands of IDPs."
In addition, the MSF specialist noted that the US economic sanctions against the country, known as the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, even if Washington insists it does not impact humanitarian supplies, were further undermining the country's economy.
"So far we have not experienced major changes in our activities in that regard or in terms of the delivery of services. On the other hand, sanctions have not helped in terms of the ongoing economic crisis in Syria, which has impacted northern Syria," Fadel said.
New US sanctions under the so-called Caesar law, which came into force on June 17, targets individuals or companies that cooperate financially with Syrian President Bashar Assad's government and directly impacts all fields of the country's economy, including the tourism industry, as well as neighboring countries, including Lebanon.
