Egypt, S.Arabia step up trade ties through coordination council talks    Egypt reviews progress on $200m World Bank-funded waste management hub    Egypt urges Israel to accept Gaza deal amid intensifying fighting    SCZONE showcases investment opportunities to eight Japanese companies    Egypt, ADIB explore strategic partnership in digital healthcare, investment    SCZONE, Tokyo Metropolitan Government sign MoU on green hydrogen cooperation    Egypt welcomes international efforts for peace in Ukraine    Al-Sisi, Macron reaffirm strategic partnership, coordinate on Gaza crisis    Contact Reports Strong 1H-2025 on Financing, Insurance Gains    Egypt, India's BDR Group in talks to establish biologics, cancer drug facility    AUC graduates first cohort of film industry business certificate    Egyptian pound down vs. US dollar at Monday's close – CBE    Egypt's FM, Palestinian PM visit Rafah crossing to review Gaza aid    Egypt prepares unified stance ahead of COP30 in Brazil    Egypt recovers collection of ancient artefacts from Netherlands    Egypt harvests 315,000 cubic metres of rainwater in Sinai as part of flash flood protection measures    Egypt, Namibia explore closer pharmaceutical cooperation    Fitch Ratings: ASEAN Islamic finance set to surpass $1t by 2026-end    Renowned Egyptian novelist Sonallah Ibrahim dies at 88    Egyptian, Ugandan Presidents open business forum to boost trade    Al-Sisi says any party thinking Egypt will neglect water rights is 'completely mistaken'    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile measures, reaffirms Egypt's water security stance    Egypt's Sisi, Uganda's Museveni discuss boosting ties    Egypt, Huawei explore healthcare digital transformation cooperation    Egypt's Sisi, Sudan's Idris discuss strategic ties, stability    Egypt to inaugurate Grand Egyptian Museum on 1 November    Greco-Roman rock-cut tombs unearthed in Egypt's Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Doctors are targets in brutal Syrian war
Published in Daily News Egypt on 19 - 03 - 2015

After four years of hostilities, the Syrian war doesn't show any signs of abating, and the needs for all kind of assistance grow more urgent every day. The situation is even more complex as medical and paramedical personnel have become targets of repression by the government. As a result, thousands of physicians have left the country, and those still there face great challenges in providing health assistance to the population.
Due to the government tactics of placing huge communities under siege means that doctors have to struggle to provide health care to the population, frequently running out of essential drugs and basic medical supplies. To make matters even more complex, some suppliers refuse to sell essential materials such as gauze or surgical threads for fear of being arrested or shut down for supplying basic elements to a besieged area, as reported by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). A doctor reported to MSF: "It is precious, dangerous, incriminating. There are secret outlets supplying us with gauze."
Because hospitals have undergone sustained attacks from airstrikes and barrel bombs, many of them have to operate below ground level. Some patients -particularly those under stable conditions – are kept at ground level and are moved to the basement once the shelling restarts. At least 610 medical personnel have been killed, and there have been 233 deliberate or indiscriminate attacks on 183 medical facilities, according to the report "Doctors in the Crosshairs: Four Years of Attacks on Health care in Syria", released last February by Physicians for Human Rights.
In July 2012, the Syrian government passed an antiterrorism law that made it a crime to provide medical care to those presumed to be supporting the rebels. In addition, regime thugs regularly hunt the hospitals looking for rebels interned there who were fighting the government.
Physicians for Human Rights also reports that the Syrian government is responsible for 88% of the recorded hospital attacks and 97% of medical personnel killings, as well as of 139 deaths directly attributed to torture or execution. As a consequence of this violence against them, an estimated 15,000 doctors have fled the country in the past three years. This number represents almost half of the certified physicians in a country whose health system was once one of the most advanced in the Arab world. In Aleppo, a city with a population of 2,500,000 only 250 doctors remained, out of 6,000 the city once had in July 2013.
The war has had devastating effects on the health of the population. More than half a million Syrians have suffered serious injuries that will demand long-term care, and outbreaks of communicable diseases have increased significantly. Some chronic conditions such as diabetes, and kidney and heart disease that could be managed under normal conditions are now escalating into life-threatening illnesses. According to some estimates, 200,000 people have died in Syria because of lack of adequate and timely medical care.
Amnesty International has reported another disturbing finding: the abuse of patients by doctors and medical personnel.
"It is deeply alarming that the Syrian authorities seem to have given the security forces a free rein in hospitals, and in many cases hospital staff appear to have taken part in torture and ill-treatment of the very people they are supposed to care for," stated Cilina Nasser, Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa researcher.
Amnesty International researchers have found that several patients had been assaulted by medical staff, health workers and security personnel in hospitals in Banias, Homs and Tell Kalakh, as well as in the military hospital in Homs. One doctor at this hospital told Amnesty International that he had seen four doctors and more than 20 nurses abusing patients, a flagrant violation of medical ethics and humanitarian behaviour.
"The Syrian government has targeted health care and increasingly used it as a weapon of war to destroy its opponents by preventing care, killing thousands of civilians along the way," states Physicians for Human Rights.
It is a miserable record for the Syrian government, one for which one day it will have to respond.
Dr. Cesar Chelala is a winner of an Overseas Press Club of America award


Clic here to read the story from its source.