WHO in Syria
Vital contributions from Japan enable WHO support for health care services for Syrian children
12 September 2019 – The World Health Organization (WHO) extends its gratitude to the People of Japan for the generous donation of US$ 5.2 million allocated to equipping the paediatric hospital in the Aleppo governorate and enabling vulnerable families in north, north-west and north-east Syria to have access to proper medical health care services for...
Nurses who made a difference
The Head Nurse at Al-Hikmah nongovernmental hospital in Al-Hasakeh governorate in north-east Syria. Photo: WHO/Syria 2019 20 August 2019 – 32-year-old Bayan is the head nurse at Al-Hikmah hospital in Al-Hasakeh governorate. She has spent the past 8 years in critical care, looking after emergency, trauma and intensive care patients. “Nursing is immensely...
Elizabeth Hoff: Seven years of tireless work in war-torn Syria
14 July 2019 – When Elizabeth Hoff was appointed as WHO Representative in Syria in 2012, she didn’t expect that she would spend the next several years leading the emergency health response in what has been described as the world’s largest and most complex humanitarian emergency. After seven years of working in the war-ravaged country, the next...
WHO supports the evacuation of a mental health patient from Al-Hol camp
1 July 2019 – WHO has successfully evacuated a 60-year-old female patient with a mental disorder from Al Hol camp in north-east Syria to a WHO-supported psychiatric hospital in...
Advancing paediatric care in Syria
Three-month old Safaa after her surgery, made possible with the support of the Bambino Gesú Hospital 17 June 2019, Damascus, Syria – With support from WHO, a team of senior medical specialists from the Bambino Gesú hospital in Rome (the largest paediatric hospital in Italy) has just concluded a one-week visit to Syria to work with their...
WHO condemns attacks on 3 health facilities in north-west Syria
5 April 2019 – The World Health Organization (WHO) strongly condemns the consecutive reported attacks on 3 health facilities in north-west Syria on 28 and 30 April. The attacks resulted in damage to infrastructure, putting them out of service. Of the 3 facilities attacked, 2 were hospitals located in northern Hama providing life-saving medical...
WHO-supported vaccination campaign to immunize 2.8 million children against vaccine-preventable diseases
WHO-supported vaccination team is providing immunization services to children in Fafin camp for internally displaced people in rural Aleppo. Photo: WHO/Syria 201922 April 2019, Damascus, Syria ‒ Over the next 6 days, the World Health Organization (WHO), in cooperation with the Syrian Ministry of Health and UNICEF, will conduct a series of...
Kawthar defeats tuberculosis: improving access to diagnosis and treatment in rural areas in Syria
Screening to detect TB among high-risks groups improves health outcomes for people with TB and reduces transmission27 March 2019, Damascus, Syria ‒ 35-year-old Kawthar is one of the tens of thousands of Syrians who fled intense fighting in Afrin city, north-west Syria last year. She and her family now live in a camp for displaced persons in...
Aynaa's story: treating severe acute malnutrition in Syria
21 March 2019 – Baby Aynaa was only three months old when she and her mother fled from conflict-torn Deir-ez-Zor to Al-Hol camp in the neighbouring governorate of Al-Hasakeh. They endured a week-long journey in freezing temperatures and driving rain, with little food or water to sustain them. By the time she reached the safety of the camp, Aynaa...
Unexploded mines pose daily risk for people in northern Syria
6 March 2019 - Um Hassan, from rural Aleppo, was collecting truffles in the countryside to sell in local markets. At the end of a long day of backbreaking work in harsh winter conditions, she and her children climbed into a crowded lorry to begin their journey home. Half-way through their trip, the lorry drove over an unexploded mine. Um Hassan’s...
