RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – “They closed the medical center; where will we go?” asks Nofa al-Ali, 60. She used to visit the al-Sawsan medical center in Raqqa, northern Syria. Without it, she does not know where to get her medication.
Al-Ali, who hails from Homs Governorate, central Syria, and lives in the countryside of Raqqa, told North Press that she used to visit the NGO-funded al-Sawsan medical center whenever a member of her family got sick, as it provides several healthcare services, especially for women and children.
At the center, which is located within the city’s National Hospital, she was able to receive treatment and obtain medication for herself and her family members.
She was forced to wait for long hours in front of the center in order to get medicine for her children and grandchildren, especially in winter.
However, the last time she visited al-Sawsan, she learned that the center had suspended all their activities due to a lack of funding.
“Al-Sawsan center needs support”
Muhammad al-Saleh, 40, did not know the center had closed its doors until he brought his daughter in to be examined by a doctor. He was surprised by a sign on the door informing him of the center’s closure.
Al-Saleh, who is a father of six, said that he is unable to take his children to private clinics as he and his family are poor.
Many of Raqqa’s residents have demanded that the center be re-opened, as they incur high costs for medical examinations and medicine in private clinics and pharmacies.
On January 17, the Ministry of Health of the Syrian government announced a new round of price hikes, some as high as 80 percent, for thousands of drugs.
Raqqa residents are suffering under the Syrian pound’s value collapse against foreign currencies. The pound dropped to 7.000 to the dollar by the end of last year.
“If a family member gets sick, they will need to be examined, to get medicine and have medical tests performed – all of which are very expensive,” al-Saleh added.
Pediatric examinations range from 10.000 to 15.000 SYP ($1,50-2,25), and they get more expensive in accordance with specialization and age.
Al-Saleh called on concerned authorities, as well as international and local humanitarian organizations to sympathize with those people and support them medically.
Raqqa is a “disaster area and we need support,” the man added.
Inopportune time
Early in the morning, Hamid al-Safira, 62, left his home in the village of al-Karamah, east of Raqqa, and headed to the center in search for medication.
Although the center is closed, the man is still waiting, ignoring the illness of one of his children, since he is not able to take him to a private clinic and buy medication at a pharmacy.
“Doctors ask for 15.000 SYP for each visit, and each prescription costs between 50.000 and 70.000 SYP ($7,47-10,46),” al-Safira told North Press.
He believes that the closure of the al-Sawsan center badly affected low-income people. “All people suffer from difficult living condition; people can hardly cover their daily needs. How can they pay for doctors?”
Raqqa provides 28 free health centers, including three general hospitals (al-Hilal, Obstetrics and the National Hospital), and 12 health centers supported by international organizations, according to the Health Committee of the Raqqa Civil Council, affiliated with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
Since the beginning of 2022, a number humanitarian organizations have suspended their activities in the region, even as AANES officials have appealed to them to provide humanitarian support to the region’s people.
Epidemic diseases, such as cholera and the flu, have spread widely in Raqqa in recent weeks. Even so, the medical center remains closed.
Late in 2021, the al-Sawsan Association for Development and Health Care was suspended for a month at al-Busayrah hospital, 35 km east of Deir ez-Zor, in eastern Syria, following threats made to its employees by gunmen.