{"id":67003,"date":"2021-10-31T16:21:07","date_gmt":"2021-10-31T16:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?p=67003"},"modified":"2021-10-31T16:21:18","modified_gmt":"2021-10-31T16:21:18","slug":"inflation-lack-of-medicine-deprive-syrias-afrin-idps-from-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/67003\/","title":{"rendered":"Inflation, lack of medicine deprive Syria\u2019s Afrin IDPs from treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ALEPPO NORTHERN COUNTRYSIDE, Syria (North Press) \u2013 <\/strong>Amina Muhammad, 63, an IDP woman from Afrin city who now lives in Sardam camp, north of Aleppo, said she was forced to get medicine from Aleppo city for 10,000 SYP after her desperate attempts to find them in pharmacies in northern countryside of Aleppo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amina, a cardiovascular patient, is in need to have long-term medicine after she had two surgeries. The thought that medicine is missing in the area where she lives appalls her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If I do not have medication, my health condition deteriorates. I feel contraction and pains in my hands and legs,” she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Amina, many displaced patients from Afrin area along with others from the northern countryside of Aleppo suffer from the missing and high prices of medication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since November 2020, Syrian government checkpoints in Manbij prohibit large amounts of fuels, gas, medicine, flour, and consumable goods, exported from Jazira region, to enter northern countryside of Aleppo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, the government checkpoint in al-Ahdath village, north of Aleppo, bans entry of medicine unless agents pay taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 300,000 people fled Afrin as a result of a military operation launched by Turkish forces with the support of the Turkish-backed armed Syrian factions in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consequently, a part of the Afrin IDPs resorted to camps including al-Awda, Afrin, Barkhodan, Sardam, and Shahba while others resorted to 42 villages and towns in the northern countryside of Aleppo, in addition to some others displaced to cities of the Jazira, Kobani and other areas in Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2,000 displaced families live in the camps while approximately 140,000 people live in villages, according to a survey by the Social Affairs and Labor Board in Afrin which currently operates in Aleppo northern countryside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monopoly, taxes  <\/strong>  <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Akram Arab, a pharmacist in Fafin town, in the northern countryside of Aleppo, says the high-cost and lack of medicine is the result of monopoly of drugs manufacturers who store medicine waiting for another adjustment on the price.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In turn, the agents who let medicine enter through government checkpoints impose the taxes they already paid, Arab added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides, all of the medicine come from Aleppo through agents, giving pharmacist no choice accepting the agents’ taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June, the Ministry of Health of the Syrian government raised the price of 12,000 medicinal types by 50%<\/a>, after threats from owners of pharmaceutical labs to stop working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About a year ago and with the spread of coronavirus in Syria, the shortage of medicines crisis started and intensified during October and November in 2020 under the influence of the collapse of the exchange rate of the Syrian pound. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Alamiya Pharmaceutical Industries Company, Imad Ma\u2019atouk, told state media that every week they lose 5% of the pharmaceutical products due to the inability to renew the raw materials required to purchase them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMore than 20% of pharmaceutical types have been lost since the price of the dollar was raised to 2,550 SYP, as this threatens to lose 60% or 70% of pharmaceutical types,\u201d Ma\u2019atouk added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muhammad, like other IDP patients, find it difficult to buy high-priced medicine especially that they have left everything behind during displacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One displaced woman, says while crying “back in Afrin, I was able to provide for my family and medicine by raising cattle but now in the camp the situation is totally difficult.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over-the-counter prices<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Medicine manufacturers do not adhere to the prices whether adjusted or not, they sell medicine to pharmacists for the prices they wish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shero Hassan, a pharmacist from Fafin, complains he cannot afford plenty amounts of medicine owing to over-the-counter prices by agents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pharmacies lack access to dozens of types like levotop, azithromycin and pharmacort, antibiotics for bronchitis as well as other vitamins which have a growing demand by winter and by coronavirus-related patients.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Severe shortage were reported on other drugs related to chronic diseases like diabetes, blood-pressure and heart failure suffer.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Autonomous Administration accuses the Syrian government of politicizing UN relief and humanitarian aids and distributing them according to military and security agendas.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kurdish Red Crescent (KRC) fails to provide medicine for around 2,500 chronic patients, Hassan Nabo, co-chair of KRC said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The insufficient support by international organizations to the KRC and the siege imposed by government have worsened the health conditions of the patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reporting by Dijla Khalil <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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