"Ordinary people are suffering poverty that borders on starvation," Patriarch Younan said. He cited the lack of medicine, food, and fuel for electricity and transportation. "Despite the joy of the encounters and visits, one could not ignore the feelings of sadness and resentment in the heart of many," Patriarch Younan said.
"It is time for all people of goodwill, especially in Western nations, to understand that the situation in Syria continues to be humanly unbearable and devastating. It risks emptying this war-torn country of its Christian community for good," Patriarch Younan stressed.
The Syrian-born patriarch, who led Syriac Catholics in the United States and Canada from 1986 to 2009, said "It is clear that the Western governments have had a wrong reading of the Syrian situation, its religious, confessional and ethnic diversity. They hastened to support the violent uprising, mostly for geopolitical reasons, imagining a democracy that is undoubtedly unfit for the Middle East region, that ignores the separation of church and state, religion and politics."
In Aleppo, Patriarch Younan chaired the May 18-20 annual meeting of the Council of Heads of Catholic Churches in Syria with Cardinal Mario Zenari, the Vatican nuncio to Syria, attending. In his opening remarks, Zenari noted that the economic sanctions implemented against Syria, including those implemented by the US, affect the most vulnerable Syrian citizens "in the heart of their daily life," so much so that "the garbage containers in the streets have become a source of food for the poorest."
The final statement issued from the meeting demanded that "the unjust sanctions imposed on Syria" be lifted immediately.
NURSING AND MIDWIVES
Despite the 10 Years of conflict and COVID-19, Midwives in Syria continue to save lives. May 5 marked the International Day of the Midwife, highlighting their contributions to the delivery of quality reproductive health services including safe delivery, especially in remote and rural areas. Currently, 10 nursing schools are functioning under the supervision of the Syrian Ministry of Health. About, 4070 midwives are working in the public sector in all Syrian governorates with the majority of midwives working in the central cities. Based on the recent reports of the Ministry of Health, these schools graduate around 300 nurses and 45 midwives per year. The support of the Ministry of Health is providing the health facilities with reproductive health equipment and supplies including COVID-19 protection kits and is building the capacity of health workforces on RH issues including midwifery subjects and rehabilitation of the health facilities.
DAMASCUS
In mid-March, a health ministry official said intensive care units (ICUs) dedicated to coronavirus patients had reached full capacity across the capital for the first time since coronavirus swept into Syria. In April, Mouwasat Hospital, one of the largest Hospitals in Damascus, was inundated with Covid-19 patients. Damascus has a University medical center, numerous public hospitals, as well as the historic French and Italian Hospitals which never shut down even in the darkest days of terrorist attacks on the capital. Damascus is now free of terrorists and has been safe for families looking to rebuild their lives after the conflict.
ALEPPO
On May 17, Syrian Minister of Health Dr. Hassan al-Ghabash inaugurated the building of the General Authority of Aleppo Eye Surgery Hospital. The hospital, which was destroyed by terrorists, has since been rehabilitated and equipped with the necessary medical equipment. It consists of two floors, 1,800 square meters, with a capacity of 25 beds, and it includes all specialized clinics and two operating rooms.
The University of Aleppo is a public university located in Aleppo, Syria, and is the second-largest university in Syria after the University of Damascus. The University of Aleppo operates numerous hospitals: Aleppo University Cardiovascular Surgical Centre; Aleppo University Hospital (AUH); OB/GYN Hospital; Oral and Maxillofacial Surgical Centre; Surgical Ambulance Hospital.
In January of 2013, rockets fired by Jibhat al-Nusra, the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, slammed into the University of Aleppo killing 15 people, and causing severe damage. Later the same year in Aleppo, the Al Kindi Hospital, considered one of the most modern in the country, was utterly destroyed by terrorists who used extensive explosives to blow the large facility into dust and rubble.
LATAKIA
On March 4 a technical medical report was published of the case of a 21"year"old Syrian female with a large ovarian steroid cell tumor. The medical report was issued by the Department of Pathology, Cancer Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Tishreen University, Lattakia, Syria, the third-largest university in Syria. It was established in 1971 and has 21 faculties including Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Science, and Nursing.
IDLIB
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