Euphrates Low water level portends of diseases outbreak – Syria’s AANES
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – An official in the Health Committee in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, eastern Syria, said on Saturday that fears grow of the spread of diseases in the region due to severe decrease of water level of Euphrates River.
Thayer al-Kred, co-chair of the Health Committee of Deir ez-Zor Civil Council, affiliated with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), said that the decreasing water level portends of the spread of communicable diseases, such as cholera and others.
Turkey has been holding water of the Euphrates within its territory since 2020 amid warns that a humanitarian catastrophe is to face the region soon especially with the river declining to record levels.
Euphrates River recession due to Turkey’s seizure provides a proper environment for reproduction of bacteria and disease-causing viruses.
During the past two years, the level of the Euphrates has fell to unprecedented records, after the amount of water flowing from Turkey towards Syria has decreased to below 200 cubic meters per second, which is less than half the amount agreed upon between the Syrian and Turkish governments in 1987.
In September 2022, a cholera outbreak was declared in Syria, as over 50.000 suspected cases were recorded in the Syrian governorates of Aleppo and Idlib.
The Health Committee coordinates directly with Health Board of the AANES to prepare for and confront any of such diseases, he told North Press.
The committee is working on rehabilitating al-Kisra hospital, launching a project of a plant for medical oxygen in Jazarat al-Buhamid, in the western countryside of Deir ez-Zor, and providing needed support of medicine and other medical supplies for all medical centers in Deir ez-Zor, he added.