Member of the Syrian Coalition Jawad Abu Hatab said that the health services in the liberated areas have seriously deteriorated as a result of the continued deliberate targeting of hospitals and medical facilities by regime and Russian forces. Abu Hatab also said that medical services suffer from acute shortages of doctors and equipment.
“Over 70% hospitals and medical facilities in liberated areas have been targeted by regime and Russian jets. These deliberate systematic attacks on vital civilian facilities are clearly aimed at forcing the population to flee their homes,” Abu Hatab said.
Abu Hatab, who is also Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the Free University of Aleppo, noted that as many people are dying of curable diseases as by regime bombings, which is due to the severe shortages of the qualified medical staff and medical equipment.
“Many doctors are now either in Assad’s prisons, under the threat of airstrikes on hospitals, or fled the country,” Abu Hatab said.
With regard to the regime’s and Russia’s recent aerial campaign on Aleppo, Abu Hatab warned that the systematic targeting of civilians, health facilities, and schools will force thousands to flee towards the border with Turkey.
Abu Hatab went on to say that building underground hospitals in the liberated areas is not a viable option due to the lack of necessary equipment and sufficient support, adding that medical workers in those areas will continue to be under constant threat of airstrikes by regime and Russian forces. “Medical staff are working in extremely difficult circumstances. It is like going back to the sixties or seventies,” Abu Hatab said.
Abu Hatab called on the international community to exercise pressure on the Assad regime and Russian to stop the bombing of hospitals and health facilities, denouncing “flimsy” claims by a number of countries that they cannot determine who is behind the bombing of hospitals in Syria.
“The international community bears full responsibility for what is happening in Aleppo,” Abu Hatab said, adding that the international community can impose a no-fly zone and prevent Assad’s and Russia’s jets from targeting hospitals and civilians. (Source: Anadolu Agency)
