A hospital in Manbij provides free services in light of the deteriorating economic situation

Manbij – North-Press Agency

Saddam al-Hassan

As a result of the high costs of living due to the critical decrease of the value of the Syrian pound (lira) against the U.S. dollar, which led to the difficulty of managing the health status of civilians because of the high costs of medicines and diagnosis in medical centers, most regions of the country are experiencing difficult social and economic situation.

While the fees of treatment and surgeries in private hospitals increase, which adds an extra burden on civilians, al-Furat Hospital in Manbij, is working to provide medical services to patients and clients for free in an attempt to reduce that burden on them, as many families are considered to be of the low income. Therefore, hundreds of people from the city of Manbij and its countryside visit this Hospital to receive treatment or detect diseases they suffer from, where the number of visitors per day ranges between 300 to 400 people.

The administrative of al-Furat Hospital, Maryam Muhammad, clarified in her interview with North-Press, that the Hospital is the only free one in the city that provides services to all citizens, explaining that the hospital includes several sections, the pediatric ward, the neonatal care unit, the gynecological ward, the internal diseases ward and the general surgery one which performs all surgeries, in addition to the dialysis section. She added that the hospital includes a pharmacy that provides all medicines free of charge, due to the deteriorated economic situation of the citizens, in addition to the laboratory, the "Thalassemia" section and blood bank that contains all blood types needed for the hospital and other hospitals.

Yehya al-Hammadi, a diabetic at al-Furat Hospital, said that he comes to the Hospital periodically to receive the necessary treatment, and runs diabetes tests, indicating that the service is good in the hospital as diagnosis and medications are provided to him for free.

It is worth noting that the Civil Administration of the city of Manbij opened al-Furat Hospital after its restoration on the 10th of May, 2017, as parts of the hospital were destroyed during the battles between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Islamic State group (ISIS), where the SDF, backed by the Global Coalition forces took control over the area. The hospital’s restoration cost reached about 10 million Syrian pounds, which is equivalent to $20,000, with the support of Médecins Sans Frontières International (MSF).