The health situation is deteriorating in eastern Ghouta near Damascus, where 300,000 people are besieged and none of the three hospitals is functioning, the World Health Organization said on Monday in a call for access to deliver aid.
“Time is running out for the people of East Ghouta. As health needs increase, available resources are being depleted day by day. Our main goal now is to provide access to lifesaving care for thousands of vulnerable men, women and children immediately,” Elizabeth Hoff, WHO Representative in Syria, said in a statement.
The number of children suffering from trauma injuries is “alarmingly high” in eastern Ghouta the WHO said. Thirty percent of all patients suffering war-related injuries children under 15 years of age, the WHO said.
On March 1, the Medical Office in Douma in eastern Ghouta warned that the failure of the international community and humanitarian organizations to urgently deliver life-saving medical supplies will have deadly consequences for patients trapped inside.
The United Nations said it remains “extremely concerned for the safety and protection of more than 400,000 people who remain besieged in eastern Ghoutah in Syria.”
“The last UN inter-agency mission to the area was in late October 2016 and civilians currently have limited access to critical food, health and nutrition assistance,” said Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General in late February.
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria Ali Zaatari warned of an imminent humanitarian disaster unless humanitarian access is granted immediately to those in need in the provinces of Rural Damascus and Idlib.
Zaatari called for immediate access to the besieged towns in these two provinces where civilians suffer daily violence and lack of basic needs. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Agencies )
