Paying for
medicines and medical treatment has become one of the most difficult issues
that Syrians face since the crisis began. The local market has been severely
affected and many medicines have become prohibitively expensive as most of the
pharmaceutical factories have been either destroyed or shut down.
The Syrian Arab Red Crescent is trying to ease the situation, with the support
of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Small pharmacies have been added to many of the shelters through the Red
Crescent’s branches and sub-branches in order to assist people directly.
Inside the warehouse at the Red Crescent’s Rural Damascus branch centre
pharmacy, volunteers are unpacking the 150 parcels of different medicines from
the IFRC. The medicines are used by the Rural Damascus polyclinic, health
point, mobile health units and health teams.
The polyclinic opened in 2008 and, at that time, mainly served refugees from
Iraq. Times have changed and most of the patients are people who have been
internally displaced as a result of the ongoing crisis in Syria.
“We thank everybody for their support and for the hand extended to help people
in distress in Syria. Nevertheless, the needs are tremendously high. The number
of displaced people inside Syria has now reached more than 5.5 million people,”
says Dr Abdul Rahman Attar, President of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.
The growing
number of displaced people is reflected in the number of people attending the
Red Crescent clinics and pharmacies. “We used to have 100 to 150 patients every
day. Now it’s three to four times that with around 300 to 400 patients each
day,” says Dr Rami Hassan, a pharmacist at the Rural Damascus branch.
One of the main obstacles the pharmacy
faces is meeting patients’ needs: “There is a need for medicines for chronic
illnesses and some expensive products, such as certain blood thinners, but also
for common medicines such as aspirin.”
People also respond differently to different medicines. For example, some
diabetic patients benefit from insulin whereas others may need something
different.
“What can I do with a patient who needs a medicine that is not available?” asks
Dr Sumaid from the clinic of internal medicine. “For example, some asthma
medicines are so expensive that we are not able to provide our patients with
them at all. We need medicines with a wide spectrum and in greater quantities.”
Unfortunately, it’s not always the medicine itself that causes a problem. “I
come to this centre to get my insulin, but the problem is that I have big
difficulties to find the money for the syringes,” says Abu Salah, who suffers
from diabetes.
Dr Attar explains this is a common issue: “Sometimes we are receiving part of
the medicines required and the other parts are not supplied. The appeal for
medications should be double or triple to cover the extreme needs during the
current situation. Medicines have been in very short supply and people are not
able to pay for them,” he adds.
According to Dr Rami, “Prices have risen twice during the crisis. First, with a
10 to 50 per cent increase, and the second time with a 25 to 50 per cent rise.
Aspirin cost 50 Syrian pounds before. Now, it costs 100 Syrian pounds.”
The IFRC is supporting the Rural Damascus branch clinic with 600 categories of
medicines; the other 350 drugs are bought by the pharmacy at the local market.
The Syrian Arab Red Crescent's health activities, including the supply of
medicines, are supported by the IFRC and are implemented with contributions
from the Canadian Red Cross, Swedish Red Cross, ECHO, USAID and OFDA.
The IFRC has an active appeal to
provide humanitarian assistance to
the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, and a separate appeal to support people from
Syria who have fled to neighbouring countries.
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