The use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime against Eastern Ghouta in August 2013 is resulting in increasing cases of genetically malformed babies, according to doctors. They also attribute deformities to the severe malnutrition resulting from the Assad’s regime continuing siege of Eastern Ghouta for over a year and a half.
A doctor working in field hospitals in the targeted area said that the most likely causes of birth defects are the exposure of one or both of the parents to chemical agents, severe malnutrition as pregnant women are deprived of many of the necessary foods such as fruits, legumes, spinach, egg, and fish and the lack of complementary medicines to these foods, such as folic acid.
The doctor points to the urgent need for advanced screening and imaging devices for the early detection of deformities in the early periods of pregnancy.
Abu Bakr, another doctor, said that the field hospital he works saw one incidence of stillborn of with one lower limb and without genitals.
Sharif, another medic, said that the field hospital he works in has seen 27 cases of genetically malformed babies since the beginning of 2014, more than half of them died after birth. He added that malformations include cerebral edema and neurological, gastrointestinal and external deformities. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Al Jazeera)
