The Health Directorate in Idlib, affiliated with the “Interim Government,” has announced launching a new emergency unit, which includes ten ambulances with all the necessary supplies, equipment and medical staff, as to cover the majority of the governorate’s areas in Northern Syria.
The Health Directorate finished the unit’s preparation process on (Wednesday) May 30, 2018, about which, Mustafa al-Eido, the deputy health director, told Enab Baladi that the coordination process started months ago until 50 ambulances were provided with personnel and supplies that an ambulance essentially must contain, in addition to other cars that have been allocated to the referral network.
According to al-Eido, the unit started functioning early June, covering most of Idlib governorate’s areas, on top of which are the city of Idlib, Taftanaz, Jisr al-Shughur, Darkush, Harem, Khan Shaykhun, Sarmada, Saraqib, Salqin, Kafr Takharim and Jabal Zawiya.
Throughout the past a few months, theses areas have suffered periodical shelling that basically targeted infrastructure, medical points and staffs.
As for the main goal for the units’ geographical spread, al-Eido said that this was suitable to coordinate the medical action in the governorate and to keep both processes, emergency services and referral, under control, explaining that the unit already has a central operation room in the Health Directorate in the city of Idlib.
The deputy health director pointed out that “Sham” Emergency Unit has participated in the operation room with 15 fully supplied ambulances, distributed in new areas. He pointed out that soon the emergency unit of “Syria for Relief and Development” Organization, which owns 20 fully supplied ambulances in different areas, will also participate in an attempt to cover all the governorate’s areas.
About the donor entity, the doctor said that “Qatar Red Crescent” covers the cars, aid essentials, operation and repair costs, but the organization will not be paying the functioning staffs’ salaries, of which the Health Directorate in the governorate is considered responsible.
Idlib Health Directorate defines itself as a service entity, specialized and independent, concerned with offering healthcare services and developing the people’s health conditions. Its project, based in hospitals and medical care centers, are yet active although dozens of air raids have attacked medical points, hospitals and emergency units, which rendered many of them out of service and destroyed equipment and devices.
A human rights report, issued by the “Syrians for Justice and Freedom” Organization, the “Syrian Archive” and the “Bellingcat” Investigations Team, documented attacks, in a single month, against eight hospitals in Idlib, within the areas included in the “d-escalation” agreement that have been launched by both the Syrian regime aircraft and the Russian air forces.
US has, in May, announced that 2018 has witnessed a standard rate of attacks against hospitals in Syria, estimating the number of air raids with 92 attacks since early June. The last of these air raids have targeted a hospital in Idlib though it has been calling on the parties to the conflict to neutralize it of the confrontations’ circle.