TABQA, Syria (North Press) – Hanouf sends out recipes prescribed by her camp’s medical point outside the camp to be able to obtain the medicines, as they are not available where she lives.
Hanouf Turki al-Ezzo, 35, from Hama Governorate, is a displaced woman in al-Mahmoudli camp in the western countryside of Raqqa, northern Syria, and suffers from kidney stones.
A mother of seven, her eldest son who is 15 years old suffers from a growth deficiency and congenital dislocation.
The woman complains about the severe shortage of medicine in the camp, in addition to the crises that the displaced suffer from, such as the decline in support and the spread of epidemics.
Al-Mahmoudli camp witnesses lack of medicine at medical points. At the same time, the IDPs find it difficult to secure medicines from outside in light of their high prices. Next to no food support, hygiene or sterilization materials arrive at the camp anymore.
Lack of medicine
Al-Ezzo visits the medical point for examination in emergency cases only. When doctors prescribe her medication, she is forced to ignore them as she is unable to obtain any from outside the camp.
She told North Press that the medical point cannot give her medicine even in the case of an emergency.
The woman uses traditional available methods to treat her kidneys. “Sometimes I use boiled parsley, but without any tangible benefit, I cannot buy medicine, they are expensive,” she says.
Her situation is similar to the majority of the IDPs in the camp, especially children, who are most vulnerable to disease.
“They often give us Cetamol or some vitamins. What can Cetamol do for severe pain of kidney disease?” the mother said.
Al-Ezzo complains about the wide spread of lice, which they are unable to get rid of. “There is no medicine, no soap, no detergents, may Gotdhelp us.”
On June 13, an official at al-Mahmoudli camp warned of the risk of an epidemic among IDPs in the coming weeks, after recording cases of scabies.
IDPs in the al-Mahmoudli camp suffer from dire living and humanitarian conditions. Unfortunately, they have been deprived of assistance for over three months, as the al-Mawada Association, in northeast Syria, has been suspended by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). This is due to its violation of NGO work regulations, as well as numerous complaints that were filed against it.
Painkillers to face epidemic
Patlah Ahmad al-Aboud, 29, from Homs Governorate in central Syria, was displaced to al-Mahmoudli camp four years ago. She complains about the medicine scarcity in the camp.
“Every time I go to the medical point, and after the examination, they give me some vitamins, while they told me to buy the necessary medicines from outside the camp,” al-Aboud said.
The woman has a child who suffers from convulsions and skin sensitivity. “Blood forms when he scratches it excessively; but there is no medicine or anything to relief my son’s pain.”
Siham al-Uqla, director of al-Mahmoudli camp, told North Press that they had reported cases of scabies due to the absence of hygiene kits, which have not been distributed in the camp for the past three months.
Al-Uqla warned of a wider spread of diseases and epidemics during the coming period, especially in light of the high temperatures and the continued lack of hygiene materials in the camp for another month.
She pointed out that there are very small quantities of medications that are not enough to cover the needs of IDPs. The official described the conditions of IDPs in the camp as very bad, in light of the three-month-long interruption in aid.
Six humanitarian organizations operate in the camp, in addition to four associations, providing water, bread, gas, education, protection and support for women, as well as a medical point in the camp that lacks midwives.
Acute lack of medical care
In a new statement, al-Uqla stressed that they suffer from a “severe shortage” of medicine, both in quantity and quality, in light of the dangers of epidemics that have begun to spread.
She told North Press that the camp has two medical points: one belonging to the Kurdish Red Crescent and the other to an organization working in the health field, in which there is an internist, a general practitioner, a midwife, a number of nurses, and an ambulance.
In addition, the al-Yamamah Association, which is affiliated with UNICEF, periodically visits the camp every Sunday, Monday and Wednesday, and provides healthcare for children, says Al-Aqla.
The camp holds 1,814 families or 9,184 individuals, mostly from Aleppo, Homs, Hama, and Deir ez-Zor, which are controlled by the Syrian government forces.
Among them are more than 4,500 children under the age of 18, and about 1,150 infants, in addition to 276 people with physical and mental disabilities, as well as 578 people with chronic diseases.
Amal al-Issa, Co-chair of the Social Affairs and Labor Board in Tabqa, told North Press that the AANES, in these circumstances, is unable to “give assistance to IDPs and provides very little support.”