Enab Baladi – Omar Alaa Eldin

The Syrian Ministry of Health launched an urgent humanitarian appeal to provide medications for cancer patients in Syria, amid a severe shortage of essential drugs for treating the disease.

During a press conference held on March 26, the Director of Planning and International Cooperation at the Ministry of Health, Zuhair Qarat, stated that the Ministry is launching through this conference an urgent humanitarian appeal to all stakeholders in the international community (the United Nations, World Health Organization, UNICEF, the European Union) as well as to brotherly and friendly countries and humanitarian funds from non-governmental organizations to support cancer patients in Syria and provide them with the necessary medications.

The head of the National Committee for Blood and Tumors at the Ministry of Health, Jamil al-Dabl, told Enab Baladi that seven Syrian governorates are in need of cancer treatment centers. However, the existing centers are suffering from a severe shortage of medicines and devices, along with a complete absence of any information system regarding these patients to determine the feasibility and cost of their treatment, stressing that the situation is exceedingly difficult.

Mohamed Zahed al-Masri, Executive Director of the UOSSM organization, confirmed in an interview with Enab Baladi that the organization is responding to the humanitarian appeal launched by the ministry by providing financial support and medical consultation.

20,000 patients at risk of discontinuation of treatment

Jamil al-Dabl stated that 80% of cancer patients in Syria urgently need to secure chemotherapy treatment. He confirmed that the previous regime did not prioritize these patients, as there is no reliable information system on which to base statistics and provide treatment, and no clear economic system to support anti-cancer efforts, with treatment being carried out haphazardly.

Al-Dabl explained in his conversation with Enab Baladi that the urgent challenges lie in the acute and severe shortage of medications in terms of quantity and type, which do not meet current needs. He added that the quality of the medicines is poor, and their prices are high compared to original types. He also pointed out that the previous regime handed over the production of cancer medications to Iranian companies, which became the main monopolist in this sector, flooding the market with these drugs.

He added, “Unfortunately, there is no annual drug list that we can rely on, and the number of cancer patients in Syria is unclear, which means there are no clear healing rates.”

The National Committee for Blood and Tumors classified the drug list into three types: essential drugs, necessary drugs, and comprehensive drugs.

According to the head of the National Committee for Blood and Tumors, Jamil al-Dabl, 80% of essential drugs (which provide the minimum required for patient treatment and are urgently needed) are not available in Syria. He pointed out that between 15,000 to 20,000 patients are at risk of discontinuation of treatment due to the insufficient quantity of medications.

For long-term difficulties, according to al-Dabl, there is a lack of sufficient devices for treatment and prevention; for example, there is no PET-CT machine that diagnoses cancer at an early stage.

According to the specialized medical site Mayo Clinic, the PET-CT is called Positron Emission Tomography, which is an imaging test that can help detect the metabolic or biochemical activity of tissues and organs.

The Positron Emission Tomography scans through this machine are useful, according to the site, for detecting cancer, identifying whether cancer has metastasized, checking the effectiveness of cancer treatment, and discovering recurrences of cancer.

According to al-Dabl, there is no immunohistochemistry testing system in Syria for pathological diagnosis, nor is there a Flow Cytometry system, which means cell flow testing usually used for diagnosing and monitoring blood cancers such as lymphoma and leukemia.

The number of cancer treatment centers in Syria ranges from 15 to 20, distributed across seven governorates (Damascus, Latakia, Tartus, Homs, Hama, Aleppo, Idlib), and the reliance is primarily on government centers for cancer treatment due to the high cost of treatment, which is currently not affordable for the Syrian state, according to the head of the National Committee for Tumors.

There is a need for new centers in Deir Ezzor, Daraa, and the outskirts of Damascus currently. There is also a small center in As-Suwayda that needs activation, and in the future, new centers are required in al-Hasakah and Qamishli with a lack of information about these two governorates, according to Jamil al-Dabl.

Al-Dabl sent a message to the World Health Organization and civil society organizations, stating, “Every human has the right to receive treatment, especially cancer patients, whether this treatment is provided by governments or through the World Health Organization. In our current situation in Syria, this possibility is obstructed by the circumstances mentioned, so Syria appeals to the international community for intervention and assistance, or we will gradually lose lives. The suffering of a cancer patient does not only affect him alone but represents his suffering, his family’s suffering, and the collective suffering of society as a whole.”

Response to the appeal

For his part, the Executive Director of the UOSSM organization, Mohamed Zahed al-Masri, stated that the Ministry of Health’s appeal comes at an appropriate time, confirming that the organization has information regarding the previous regime’s refusal to provide adequate treatment for cancer patients under the pretext of sanctions, even though medical aid has always been exempted from the imposed sanctions on Syria.

UOSSM stands for the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations, a non-profit NGO that provides medical assistance and healthcare services to those affected by crises in Syria and other countries, founded in 2012 in Paris, France.

Al-Masri emphasized in his interview with Enab Baladi that the appeal launched by the Ministry of Health is very much needed at this time, calling on all concerned stakeholders to mobilize efforts to alleviate the suffering of cancer patients and to find a solution to this problem.

Previously, especially regarding organizations operating in northwestern Syria, including UOSSM, the issue of treating cancer patients was complicated and was done through very limited centers or by transferring them to Turkey, as al-Masri stated.

According to a report by the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) and international relief organizations (Relief International), in 2023, areas that were not under the control of the previous regime received healthcare funding from external donors (civil society organizations), while cancer care in these areas is considered to be at level three and is therefore not funded by these donors. Non-governmental organizations are required to independently raise funds for these cases. Therefore, the availability of free diagnostic and treatment services for cancer is extremely limited for the population, where 90% live below the poverty line.

However, currently, al-Masri confirmed to Enab Baladi that the organization will respond to the appeal from the Syrian Ministry of Health and will communicate with the ministry to coordinate the response to this appeal, adding, “We will try to fulfill our role appropriately by providing funding, medications, and expert consultations from our doctors.”

Statistics

On December 18, 2024, the BMC research portfolio presented a systematic review of cancer and conflict in Syria, encompassing most studies addressing cancer and its combat in Syria. This review reached several conclusions, the most notable of which are:

• The rate of deaths due to cancer in Syria increased by 31.7% compared to 2015, with an overall death rate of 89.6 deaths per 100,000 people in 2022.
• The incidence of cancer in Syria increased by 40% compared to 2015, with an overall rate of 135.7 cases per 100,000 people in 2022.
• The costs of cancer treatment in Syria range from $100 to $1000 monthly, which is reported to be extremely expensive for the average Syrian citizen, according to a study conducted in 2016.