Deir Ezzor-SANA
Workers in the health sector in Deir ez-Zor governorate seek to provide medical services to citizens according to the available capabilities, despite the lack of specialized medical supplies and cadres.
The Director of Health, Dr. Bashar Al-Shuaibi, told SANA reporter that the health sector facilities in the governorate were subjected to systematic destruction, looting and sabotage by terrorists, which led to most hospitals and health centers being out of service.
He explained that 106 health centers out of 110 centers and 7 government hospitals out of 8 were looted and vandalized, but despite that, the health sector continued to provide medical services to citizens throughout the years of the unjust siege on Deir ez-Zor through Al-Assad Hospital and 4 health centers in the city.
Al-Shuaibi pointed out that the health sector in the governorate witnessed a remarkable improvement in the three years that followed the lifting of the siege on the city of Deir ez-Zor and the liberation of its countryside from terrorism, as the number of health centers increased from 4 centers at the end of 2017 to 42 centers.
He stressed the continuation of providing services within the hospital complex in Al-Assad Hospital, which includes the General Authority of Al-Assad Hospital and Al-Furat Hospital, which provides internal, cardiology and neurological care services, noting that the number of patients at the Department of the Interior and the Ministry of Interior’s ambulance has reached more than 20 thousand since the beginning of the year, and the Children’s and Obstetrics Hospital, which provides Services of diseases, gynecology and pediatrics, and it contains an operating room, delivery room, and an incubator suite, which includes 16 incubators with modern specifications.
According to Al-Shuaibi, the health centers and hospital complex are currently working according to the available capabilities to provide health services and vaccinations to citizens in Deir Ezzor and the eastern countryside of Raqqa, indicating that the health sector has been supplied with medicines, vaccines, medical devices, surgical vehicles, mobile clinics and ambulances.
Al-Shuaibi indicated that the health sector in Deir ez-Zor suffers from a shortage of medical staff in general, and of specialized doctors and residents, especially “cardiac surgery.. treatment of tumors.. glands... vessels.. cardiac surgery.. neurosurgery.” In addition to the lack of some equipment, indicating that the situation has improved After the approval of the Council of Ministers in mid-February to send 20 doctors with all specialties on a monthly basis to the hospitals of Deir ez-Zor.
In turn, the Director of the General Authority of Al-Assad Hospital, Dr. Mamoun Heza, pointed out that the hospital provides surgical services “general, orthopedic, vascular, neurological and thoracic,” and more than 3,500 surgical operations have been performed since the beginning of the year in it, in addition to the Industrial College Department, which contains 17 dialysis machines, and 3,800 dialysis sessions have been performed. For 109 patients since the beginning of the year, the lithotripsy department and the outpatient clinics, which include clinics for “ear, nose and throat diseases – ophthalmology – neurological – urinary – orthopedic – oral and maxillofacial surgery and surgery” and a central laboratory for medical analysis, radiography and mammography.
Heza indicated that the hospital suffers from a shortage of medical staff and some equipment, especially the CT system, which has been out of order for more than 6 months and has not been maintained due to the lack of spare parts due to the economic siege on Syria.
A number of citizens referred to the health services provided in the complex of hospitals and health centers, noting the efforts made by the staff working in them, and demanding the provision of some types of medicines and the repair of some broken medical devices.
Ibrahim Zilli