Idlib struggles with severe medical shortages after Assad shelling
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Thirty health centers and 11 hospitals in the countryside of Idlib, northwestern Syria, have been rendered out of service due to shelling by the al-Assad regime during the war years, a health official said on Wednesday.
Ibrahim al-Oweiss, head of the Health Facilities Department in the Ministry of Health of the Syrian transitional government, told North Press that the southern Idlib countryside has faced severe deterioration in healthcare for years, with medical services now nearly non-existent.
He noted that most hospitals and health centers ceased operations, particularly after the military escalation in 2019.
“Only limited steps have been taken to restore healthcare, such as reopening the Maarat al-Numan health center and five other centers operating on a voluntary basis,” he explained.
He added that mobile clinics currently provide primary services in some villages and towns, but these efforts are far from sufficient to address the overwhelming medical needs of the population.
According to al-Oweiss, healthcare in the area now depends on just two permanent facilities—the Maarat al-Numan Center and the Khan Shaykhun Center—along with a women’s and children’s hospital and roughly 30 mobile clinics.