Syria’s collapsing health system is being forgotten by the world, a senior WHO official said, urging new creative thinking to stem the exodus of health workers.
Hanan Balkhi, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said young doctors needed to be given better prospects than practising fourth-century medicine in poor conditions.
Balkhi, who took up his post in February, visited Syria from May 11 to 16 and described the situation upon his return as “dire,” with an “alarming” number of people in distress and alarmingly high rates of malnutrition among children.
She said almost half of the health care workers had fled the country.
Balhi said Syria faces a “multiple and layered crises” due to 13 years of civil war, sanctions, a devastating earthquake last year and a complex geopolitical situation.
Advertisement – Scroll to continue
Only 65 percent of hospitals and 62 percent of primary health centers are operating at full capacity, and there are severe shortages of medicines and equipment.
“We need to think outside the box when it comes to retaining our health workers, attracting younger talent and keeping them engaged so we continue to have people signing up,” Balkhi told AFP.
Healthcare workers are only paid “very low” wages, if they are paid at all.
Advertisement – Scroll to continue
And if surgeons don’t have operating rooms, anesthesia, specialized nurses and sterilization units, “what’s the point of having surgeons?” she argued.
“Then you need medicines. If you don’t manufacture them yourself and can’t import them, then in a way it paralyzes doctors.”
“So we have to choose between accepting fourth-century medicine and cauterizing people and sending them off to their leisure, or coming up with creative ways to do it.”
Advertisement – Scroll to continue
Balki said any such solution would require more convincing of health workers to either stay in Syria or return home, and that many would be willing to do so “if they had some support.”
“They are studying German in medical school so they will be ready to jump, which is horrifying for the region,” the Saudi doctor lamented.
She suggested getting young doctors involved in research projects that could lead to publications, so they would feel “challenged” and “at least the equipment for surgery would be there.”
Advertisement – Scroll to continue
Doctors also need access to virtual platforms to stay in touch with the international medical community, as they are unable to attend conferences to present papers, she said.
On medicines, Balkhi suggested strengthening joint procurement and supporting local manufacturing of basic medicines such as painkillers, antibiotics and antihypertensives to combat the “silent killer” of high blood pressure.
Balki, who was in Geneva this week for a WHO executive board meeting, said intermittent electricity supplies in Syria were posing a wider health risk than people realised.
Advertisement – Scroll to continue
She said the number of burn injuries was disproportionately high in Syria because people burn everything from “tires, plastic and fabric” to cook and heat their homes, causing fires and respiratory injuries in homes, and regular power outages caused household appliances to catch fire.
“Civilians, children, are being affected in ways we can never imagine,” Balkhi said.
She called on donors to separate politics from health and renew their focus on humanitarian funding for Syria.
“I’m a pediatrician by profession, so prevention is my job,” she said.
“When you dig deep into the root causes of the damage, a lot of it is preventable.”
rjm/bp
