Access to healthcare
in SYRIA
Team Aleppo. HL322 International Health Issues; Winter 2017
Political Aspects
The effect of state affairs, authority, and power on the access of the Syrian healthcare resources during the war
Political Overview:
The Syrian Arab Republic
Type of Government: Republic under Authoritarian Presidential Rules
President: Bashar al-Assad (1970-present)
Capital: Damascus
Political cartoon symbolizing Syria's failing democracy. Source: Cartoon A Day (google.com)
Political Overview
In 2011, a movement known as the Arab Spring Movement (Middle Eastern movement) demanded President Assad's resignation and an end to the Ba'ath party. President Asaad responded to the movement with a military siege of the rebels, escalating the tensions and thus leading to the Civil War outbreak (Lucy et. al., 2016). President Assad, who has been in power since 1970, was re-elected for another seven-year term in April 2014. However, controversy broke out over the elections as some claimed that it was "tightly controlled" and accused the Syrian government of exploiting their power and resources (Lucy et. al., 2016).
The conflict has turned into more than just a battle between the pro-democratic rebels and President Assad's military forces. Aside from the political viewpoints, the Sunni population (a religious majority) are also fighting against the president's Shia Alawite sect (a minority religious group), thus escalating the fight on both political and religious grounds (Lucy et. al., 2016).
Finally, the rise of the jihadist group Islamic State, ISIS, had added further pressure on the political arena, leading to a Civil War with several, deeply divided, opposition groups and rival alliances battling on the same battlefield. The most prominent groups are the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, backed by several Western and Gulf Arab states. However, the exile group has little influence on the ground in Syria and its primacy is rejected by many opponents of President Assad (Lucy et. al., 2016).
A map displaying the different groups involved in the Syrian Civil War as of 29 February, 2016. Source: Pene. (2017). The Maghreb andOrient Courier.
Health Impacts
The current political imbalance of Syrian has had a profound effect on the health of thousands of Syrians. The political differences between the different groups fighting in the civil war have left the healthcare field without any support (Sharaha, 2014). Undoubtedly, the rise of Syria's political crisis has directly led to the destruction of its healthcare system, leaving Syria with the biggest current humanitarian issue.
However, the problem deepens as the healthcare facilities and personnel have recently become targets of the warfare (SAMS, 2015). The political war has turned into a civil warfare in which the violent attacks have been targeting millions of innocent families. To deepen the matter, most wars typically hold true the law of medical neutrality. Unfortunately, that is not the case for the Syrian Civil War where hundreds of medical personnel and facilities have become direct targets of the war forces (SAMS, 2105). International lawyers and humanitarian activists are working with the United Nations in order to help settle the ethical issue of this Civil War.
Finally, since the outbreak of the civil war, thousands of trained physicians and medical students have left the country in search for a safer place to practice medicine. This large and sudden emigration of medical personnel has left the country in need of medically trained personnel to help treat the increasing amount of victims.
Daily NEW USA, 2016 [youtube]