Fewer than 30 doctors left in war-torn Aleppo, UN health agency warns

“Up until the last few days, there had been eight hospitals partially functioning in Aleppo, but a few days ago, the two largest hospitals [were] deliberately targeted and are now not functioning, drastically reducing the capacity of health workers in the city to provide life-saving medical care for many innocent civilians,” Dr. Rick Brennan, the Director of Emergency Risk Management and Humanitarian Response of the World Health Organization (WHO), told reporters in Geneva.

“There has been a reduction in the number of health workers able to stay at their posts, and those who did are exhausted, drained physically and emotionally,” he said. “The work they are doing is beyond heroic. For them to stay at their post under those conditions deserves unending admiration and respect,” he added.

Because the supply lines are cut off, and with 270,000 people besieged in east Aleppo it is difficult to get medical supplies, equipment and fuel to the remaining health facilities, and no patients are able to get out.

Dr. Brennan said that he has been working in humanitarian assistance for 23 years, has been to conflict zones on four continents, but has rarely seen conditions as severe as those in east Aleppo on Friday.

Out of over 100 public hospitals throughout the country, only 45 per cent are fully functional now, another 35 per cent are partially functional, and 25 per cent are not working, he said.

In Aleppo, the situation is significantly worse, he said. A few days ago, with the two main hospitals still functioning, there were 135 hospital beds available in east Aleppo. With the recent destruction of the two hospitals, the capacity to treat patients has been drastically reduced.

Photo: UNICEF/Khuder Al-Issa

Source: www.justearthnews.com