Yusra engages in physical therapy sessions at the rehabilitation centre to regain her mobility. Photo credit: Physicians Across Continents29 April 2024 – “I felt the ground shaking heavily, I ran to wake up my parents and my grandfather, then I went to wear clothes to run outside,” recounts Yusra*, a 23-year-old university student from Idlib...

Immunization activity in rural Damascus, Syria, 2024. Photo credit: WHO Syria23 April 2024, Damascus, Syria – Syria’s first round of its Big Catch-Up vaccination activity began this week. The 10-day initiative was launched by the Syrian Ministry of Health in partnership with WHO and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Two further rounds of...

WHO marks 13 years of the Syrian crisis with renewed commitment and support14 March 2024, Damascus, Syria – As the Syrian conflict enters its 14th year, WHO reaffirms its unwavering support to the people of Syria. The prolonged crisis has inflicted immense suffering on the civilian population. A record 16.7 million people in Syria need...

14 February 2024­, Damascus, Syria – WHO has concluded the Gender-based Violence and Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Victim’s Support in Earthquake-Affected Areas project, which it delivered with the Syrian Ministry of Health and the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs and Population. The project was launched in February 2023,...

6 February 2024, Damascus, Syria – It is one year today since a devastating series of earthquakes struck Syria and Türkiye, causing more than 1400 deaths and injuring about 2357 people in Syria alone. Hundreds of thousands more were displaced. Today, WHO reflects on its work to help the people of Syria recover from the disaster and to support the...

Dr Siham Makhoul, Director of the National Hospital of Latakia, Syria. Photo credit: WHO Syria6 February 2024 – I retain vivid memories of the earthquake. At just after 04:00, I was jolted awake by deep rumbling and roaring, and strong shaking. I live with my elderly mother, who is unwell, and my 2 sons; my first thought was to get them to...

25 January 2024 – Abd Nour, a 52-year-old father from Aleppo, has been displaced 3 times with his family owing to the ongoing conflict in Syria. Once a shopkeeper, Abd became a day labourer to support his family after they were forced to flee their home. “For us, it has been very difficult,” he said. “It was hard to make plans not knowing how I would...

3 January 2024 – “After years of suffering, I am finally feeling empowered to regain control over my own destiny,” shared Hana, aged 29 years, who has suffered a series of devastating losses. A decade ago, Hana was forced to flee her home when fighting intensified close to her village in northwest Syria. She left her relatives without saying...

Training on risk assessment and outbreak investigations. Photo credit: WHO/WHO Gaziantep Field Presence Office5 December 2023, Cairo, Egypt, and Gaziantep, Türkiye – To strengthen the response to disease outbreaks and public health emergencies in northwest Syria, WHO conducted a training on risk assessment and outbreak investigations in...

19 November 2023, Damascus, Syria¬ – WHO and the Syrian Ministry of Health recently completed a joint evaluation of the country’s main disease surveillance system, the Early Warning, Alert and Response System (EWARS). Throughout the crisis in Syria, EWARS has been instrumental in detecting outbreaks of measles, cholera and other diseases and...