The Ministry of Health of Syria has recently launched its national strategy on reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health, with support from WHO, the United Nations Population Fund and UNICEF. The strategy will contribute to reducing neonatal, child and maternal mortality and enhancing the well-being of women, children and...

27 March 2022 - 25-year-old Muhdia from Karm Myasser district in Aleppo, Syria, was diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) after being examined by the TB mobile clinic. Muhdia was losing weight, coughed frequently, had fever and difficulties in breathing. Thanks to the agility of physicians, she was immediately referred to the TB centre in Aleppo where...

Dr Akjemal Magtymova, Head of Mission and WHO Representative in Syrian Arab Republic On Mother’s Day, I would like to shine a spotlight on the extraordinary resilience and leadership of Syrian women – daughters, sisters, mothers, grandmothers. For the last 11 years since the start of the crisis in Syria, women have faced many challenges, yet...

9 February 2022, Damascus – In coordination with the national health authorities, WHO and partners continue to bridge vaccine inequity and increase vaccination rates in the Syrian Arab Republic, aiming for the 40% national COVID-19 vaccination target by April this year.   Although the total number of COVID-19 vaccines delivered to the Syria through...

Summary As of 5 February 2022, the total number of COVID-19 vaccines delivered to Syria through the COVAX Facility is 8 352 740, in addition to 2 713 640 doses received through bilateral agreements. These allocations are enough to cover 38% of the population. In the near future, over 3.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be...

DAMASCUS, 1 February 2022 – 3 996 000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Syria on 26 of January, donated by Italy through the COVAX Facility.  In May last year, as chair of the G20, Italy hosted the Global Health Summit alongside the European Commission, which saw many European countries pledge to share millions of...

DAMASCUS, 23 January 2022 – Syria has recently received 151 200 doses of COVID-19 vaccine donated by the Government of Japan through the COVAX Facility. The donation is part of the continuous efforts to protect people of Syria from the COVID-19 pandemic. “The Government of Japan has provided approximately 150 000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines...

13 January 2022 – The evaluation, commissioned by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, with support from the WHO Evaluation Office, assessed WHO’s emergency response in Syria due to the conflict from 2016 to 2020, including its strategy, interventions, operations, performance and results, as well as its engagement and...

23 December 2021, Damascus – The EU is allocating an additional €1 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) in Syria to strengthen the COVID-19 response. The humanitarian funding will primarily be used to increase testing capacity and scale up vaccination across Syria. Health services in Syria are overstretched, the health workforce is...

14 November 2021 – This week, as key players in creating demand for vaccine, Syrian health care workers built their capacities and strengthened skills in managing vaccine hesitancy as part of the COVID-19 response.​ The interactive training organized by the Ministry of Health and WHO, in partnership with UNICEF, IFRC and SARC aims to identify and...