National Strategy for 2022-2025

The Ministry of Health has launched today, Thursday, the 31st of March 2022, the National Strategy for the Health of Women, Children and Adolescents in Syria for the years of 2022-2025. The strategy was launched during an event at the Sheraton Hotel in Damascus.

The strategy aims to achieve equitable access to integrated and comprehensive health services of high quality for women, children and adolescents, and to enhance social and behavioral health skills and practices, and community engagement efforts to improve equitable outcomes for the health of the aforementioned groups.

In a speech during the event, the Minister of Health, Dr. Hasan Al-Ghabash, indicated that the terrorist war on Syria negatively affected some health indicators, so this strategy will contribute to improving the quality of services and will be a guiding framework for the Ministry and relevant partners to identify and manage priorities and directions in order to ensure the achievement of sustainable development goals and the global strategy for the health of women, children and adolescents for 2016-2030 with regard to improving the health of these groups through a multisectoral intervention and reducing the gaps.

The representative of the World Health Organization in Syria, Dr. Akjamal Makhtumova, pointed out that the launch of the strategy is evidence of the Syrian Government’s commitment to providing the best services in order to enhance the health of women, children and adolescents, despite the difficult conditions that Syria has been going through for 11 years, especially the health sector, stressing the continuation of the organization’s partnership with the Ministry of Health to support the implementation of this strategy.

The Director of Primary Health Care at the Ministry, Dr. Razan Al-Tarabishi, gave a presentation in which she indicated that the preparation for the strategy began in 2020 by studying the current reality and setting priorities and then preparing them finally with the executive matrix, noting that it will be accompanied by an annual executive plan that will be updated based on the needs and implemented in cooperation with health institutions affiliated with the Ministries of higher education, scientific research, defense, interior, and a number of civil society associations in addition to the international support organizations.

Concerning the strategy’s contribution to the development of the reproductive health program, the program’s head, Dr. Alaa Erqsusi, indicated that it enhances the role of pre-marital medical examination clinics, counseling and awareness-raising on reproductive health programs related to vaccination, nutrition, psychological support, early detection services for breast and cervical cancer, and prevention of transmission of HIV and liver cancer.

The Adolescent Health Program Official, Dr. Firas Al-Hussein, pointed out that the strategy provides for integrated care for the health of adolescents through programs to support skills and ways in order to manage the psychological and behavioral needs of this age group.