Donor update, The Syrian Arab Republic - 9 April 2013
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Download document The World Health Organization (WHO) requires US$ 39.8 million until June 2013 to respond to the acute health needs of populations affected by the crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic, estimated at almost four million persons, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees.
Current situation
As the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic degenerates, the adverse impact on the most vulnerable sectors of society increases. With 80 000 lives lost and over 400 000 persons injured since March 2011, projections are that these figures will double during the next twelve months alone. Concurrently, the constraints affecting preventive and curative primary and secondary health care are growing.
The conditions are exacerbated by a disrupted health system: 57% of public hospitals have been damaged, 37% are out of service and 20% are partially damaged. Lack of fuel and electricity have forced many hospitals to operate with reduced capacity despite being overburdened with patients (for example, the main referral hospital in Latakia receives a new emergency patient every 32 seconds) or even to close completely. Some of the hospitals that are nonfunctioning are being used for shelter by IDPs.
The health workforce has been severely reduced as many health professionals have fled the country. Affected governorates are now lacking qualified medical expertise particularly for trauma, anaesthesia and specialized laboratory personnel. For those health workers that have remained, it is difficult to report to duty.
For instance, in Damascus, Aleppo and Homs, at least 70% of the health providers live in rural areas and frequently cannot access their work place due to irregular public transportation, blocked and unsafe roads, with an increasing number of military check points, snipers and the unpredictable occurrence of street fights. At present, according to the Joint Rapid Assessment of Northern Syria, only 36 doctors are practicing in and around the city of Aleppo compared to 5000 before the crisis started. In the northern governorates, female staff for reproductive health and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is limited.