Medical and psychosocial support
Looking ahead
While the immediate physical danger has passed, the road to recovery for millions of people in both countries stretches on.
The need for permanent shelter, food, clean water, medical aid, and hygiene infrastructure is ongoing. There is also a continued need for psychosocial support to help heal the invisible wounds inflicted by this disaster. Many people still live amongst rubble, a constant reminder of their immense loss, while many others have never recovered their loved ones’ remains.
Local teams, in partnership with IFRC are committed to helping communities to rebuild with practical help.
Travelling medical vans provide critical care in Syria
Dr. Fatima Kanesh is a SARC doctor who has been providing healthcare to people affected and displaced by the earthquake and the ongoing conflict in Syria. She spends her days working in a van that is designed to function as a small mobile medical facility, with medicine and basic tools for diagnosing patients. Vans like this travel throughout affected regions in Syria to provide vital healthcare.
“We have encountered many diseases that were the result of people leaving their homes, living in shelters and changing their health habits due to the earthquake. We have seen many patients with lice, scabies, diarrhea as well as respiratory and intestinal infections.” says Dr. Fatima.
“We are providing people with information on how to sanitize water before drinking it, the right way to wash their hands, take care of hygiene and prepare a rehydration solution.”
Medical staff like Dr. Fatima have helped to provide 6.8 million medical services since the earthquakes struck in Syria.
Psychosocial support is critical for children in Syria
In Syria, children face one of the most urgent and complex humanitarian crises in the world, they have lived through years of conflict and now they must navigate the aftermath of these devastating earthquakes.
This is why psychosocial support for children continues to be one of the key components of the earthquake response in Syria. This support focuses on providing children with tools for coping with and expressing their emotions through art, music and craft activities.
These therapeutic sessions also provide children with a space to just be children; to play, socialise and learn together.
