The Syrian National Coalition calls on “international organizations like Red Cross and Crescent and Doctors Without Borders, to act quickly” on what it described as “a growing humanitarian and health crisis in the besieged areas.” The Syrian Coalition request that the UN Security Council pass an emergency resolution in which: “the Assad regime would be forced to open humanitarian corridors to the besieged area in Syria.” The Coalition’s statement adds, “Reports have returned from field hospitals and first aid stations with serious warnings of the possibility of the return of serious diseases which Syria finished from many years ago.” This is a result of “the continued siege that has led to the absence of medical immunizations” from the besieged areas which the regime has been putting pressure on because they are the popular base for the Syrian revolution. The initial medical reports predict that polio in children and whooping cough, are the diseases which have begun to sicken the people in the areas where the regime has prevented the delivery of medical aid. Medical organizations found 22 cases of polio in Deir Ezzor after the disease had been eradicated in the area for more than 14 years. The United Nations World Health Organization state that, “results from initial tests of several cases in Deir Ezzor Province returned positive for children’s polio.” The WHO added that “Syria is in great danger from children’s polio and other diseases which people can be protected from with immunizations.” The WHO requested further tests in the area to discover any more such cases. The WHO also recommends that any person traveling to areas where these diseases have showed up to get new immunization shots. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
