WHO responds to critical health needs of thousands of Syrians fleeing East Ghouta
21 March 2018, Damascus – The World Health Organization (WHO) is supporting the delivery of critical health care for Syrians fleeing the escalating violence in besieged East Ghouta. WHO has activated an emergency operations centre that works around the clock to assist the tens of thousands of Syrians from East Ghouta who have taken refuge in collective shelters in Rural Damascus.
Nationwide polio vaccination campaign aims to vaccinate more than 2.4 million children
12 March 2018 – The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF are supporting a nationwide polio vaccination campaign in the Syrian Arab Republic that aims to vaccinate more than 2.4 million children under 5 years of age in 13 governorates. The campaign, which is being managed by the Ministry of Health, was launched on 11 March and will last for 5 days.
Helping Fatima get back on her feet
8 March 2018 – Twelve-year-old Fatima Hamidi lives with her 5 sisters and 7 brothers in the city of Aleppo. Over the past few years, her family’s life has been upended by uncertainty and fear. The conflict finally abated last year, and life began returning to normal. But just as Fatima was finishing the school year and getting ready for the summer holiday, her arms and legs became weak. She found it difficult to play with her friends. Eventually, she was unable to move.
After weeks of tests, doctors diagnosed her condition as Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare but serious autoimmune disorder. The high cost of medicines and treatment quickly depleted the family’s finances, and they had to be stopped. When this happened, Fatima’s health rapidly deteriorated, and with it, her sense of hope.
Desperate to help her daughter, Fatima’s mother found a patient recovering from the same syndrome, who told her about Yadan Biyad, a nongovernmental organization supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) that treats patients for free. Doctors and physical therapists at Yadan Biyad prescribed medicines and a rigorous course of daily physiotherapy for Fatima. Within weeks, she recovered enough strength to go for treatment on her own. It wasn’t long before she was back in school, studying hard and looking forward to the future again.
Fatima is one of over 13 000 Syrian children who have received free health care thanks to a generous donation to WHO from the Government of Japan. WHO has used these funds to support health-focused nongovernmental organizations that treat people throughout Syria. With support from Japan, nongovernmental organizations such as Yadan Biyad, Al-Ber, and Al-Ihsan Charity Society have treated over 67 000 Syrians who would otherwise have been unable to obtain any kind of health care.
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Restoring hearing helps a child recover in Syria
1 March 2018 – Nour and his family fled their home in a besieged area last year, arriving in Damascus with almost nothing, after living through a terrifying ordeal. Nour lost his father and had stopped speaking.
Now 11, Nour lost his hearing when he was an infant, but his family were unable to get him assistance until recently. Last year he received a hearing aid from the Tamayoz Social Care Association, a nongovernmental organization supported in part by the World Health Organization (WHO).
"Now he can talk, express his feelings, and call to me," says his mother. "It's made a big difference."