Authorities Of Syria's Aleppo To Open 14 Free Medical Centers In City

Authorities of the Syrian city of Aleppo have decided to open 14 medical centers where free aid will be provided, including to the poorest sections of the population, and while nine centers are already operating, five others will open their doors to the public soon

ALEPPO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th February, 2019) Authorities of the Syrian city of Aleppo have decided to open 14 medical centers where free aid will be provided, including to the poorest sections of the population, and while nine centers are already operating, five others will open their doors to the public soon.

"Refugees are returning, and we need medical centers above all else," Fadi Al-Msouti, a chief executive at the center for Aleppo recovery, said as he was standing near the entrance to an urgent care clinic, which had just reopened in Aleppo's Hananu district following restoration.

Hananu was the first district to be freed from terrorist control in late 2016. A governmental commission began operating there just one week after terrorists were removed from the area. As the commission assessed the damage done by war at hundreds of billions of Syrian Pounds, a decision was made to restore city infrastructure prior to residential buildings.

"During the years of war, militants located a mortar launching site for firing shells at the city's residential areas right in this building," Msouti said.

He added that the medical center was now equipped better than it had been before the war. All the necessary things for patient reception as well as medications were available. Given that the majority of the population had no money, all the medical services were made free for Aleppo residents.

"I receive up to 100 patients every day. We administer first aid, provide medicine and receive patients for free," general practitioner Sima Hamid said.

Maryam Kebbi, who lives in Hananu, has taken her young son to the medical center over what she suspects is pneumonia.

The lack of medical services in Aleppo could have previously put the boy's life at risk, but doctors now have no concerns over the boy's fate since they have enough medication for long-term therapy.

"Very poor people live here. We find it difficult to go to hospital as it is located in the opposite part of the city, while it is convenient for us to come to this medical center every day," Kebbi said.

As there are no inpatient facilities yes, Kebbi's son will receive outpatient care, but the mother is still grateful since her family had been living without any medication for many years.

Large-scale construction of hospitals and polyclinics is underway across Syria, including in Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of the country's capital of Damascus. A multifunctional medical center in the city of Kafr Batna has not received its first patients yet, even though it was built a long time ago. As the war started in the country, militants seized medication stocks and modern medical equipment, the cost of which was hundreds of thousands Dollars.

"This was a brand new hospital, it has not even opened yet. Militants have captured the building to arrange their headquarters there," local resident Zuhair Abu Zaid said.

Young men are currently working to restore the hospital. They work in 15-day-long shifts, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time. After each shift, they have a week-long rest. The hospital will open its doors for the first patients in several months only, given the immense scale of destruction.