As the Syrian crisis passes the two-year mark, refugees number over one million, 70,000 people have died and 350,000 have been injured, and the health system is severely disrupted.
On March 15 the World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean issued a situation report describing the effects of the crisis on health in the region. The impact on the health care system has had a direct effect on the provision of preventive and curative health care, including support for chronic diseases, reproductive health, infant and child health, nutrition, and mental health services.
Seventy percent of health workers living in heavily affected areas (rural Damascus, Homs, and Aleppo) face difficulties in accessing their workplace, according to the report. Thirty-six percent of hospitals are out of service. Health facilities and pharmacies are increasingly unable to provide medicines.
Read the full report:
http://applications.emro.who.int/dsaf/Situation_Rep/2013/Situation_Rep_2013_12.pdf.