March 26 Weekly Article: Humanitarian Aid Crisis in Syria

Dear All,

Since it’s been a while, and it just happens that I’m a Global Health “fan”, that the gPEM team is awesome (gPEM=global Pediatric Emergency Medicine team at CNMC) and well, things are happening where I come from (Lebanon), let’s talk about humanitarian crisis and humanitarian emergencies today, specifically about the Humanitarian Aid Crisis in Syria. I will keep politics and political opinions out of this.

I’m copying here 2 links to MSF.

MSF = Medecins Sans Frontieres =Doctors Without Borders. It’s my bias, as I worked with them, and admire their organization, efforts and impact.

Link 1:

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/publications/article.cfm?id=6669

This article summarizes very nicely the obstacles to medical aid in Syria.

All over the world, in conflict zones, in the recent years, the different factions fighting have often been more or less open to humanitarian aid by known “objective” groups. However, this 2 year long conflict in Syria has been a challenge (even more than usual, if possible!) to humanitarian organizations.

We are offered a perspective of how difficult and dangerous setting up humanitarian medical aid can be in conflict zones. How important the safety of the providers is!

And once again, humbles me about my workplace and life style.  

What is happening in Syria, is that not only is a conflict taking place injuring civilians, displacing them and putting them in harms way due to bombs and guns as well as malnutrition and diseases; the medical system (which wasn’t a bad one!) is now broken and more importantly, medical providers, whether local or international, are being targetted and harmed for providing care. Imagine if you were targetted (and not just by a law suit!) for fulfilling your Hippocrates’ Oath!

I will let you read through and ponder.

Link 2:

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=6667&cat=video

This is a video on Syrian refugees in Lebanon. This is very “close to home” for me, literally.

Before I start rambling: a personal anecdote:

While working in Lebanon this year, I saw several Syrian patients. Some were, fortunately for them, financially better off: they were able to rent a house in Lebanon, and pay for their medical bills; others couldn’t: they were lost to follow up, or came in dire conditions. Luckily, there was a “syrian fund” created in AUB-MC (hospital where I teach and work) to help care for those patients… but unfortunately, everything has a limit.

Lebanon already had more than 300,000 Palestinian refugees since the 1960s, an additional 30,000 Iraqi refugees since the Iraq War and now add to them the more than 300,000 Syrian refugees reported. That is 1/5 of the Lebanese population which is at 4 million. Where does a country that is still recovering from a civil war, and multiple conflicts since then, with an unstable economy and government (our prime minister resigned this weekend… and hence we stand now without a government!), where the syrian conflict has a direct spill-over and may be on a brink of another civil war because of the region and syrian conflict… where does such a country start? How does it help? And for how long? What's the role of international bodies? NGOs? The refugee's own nations? The cause behind their displacement?

Have a lovely week, 

Rasha