Efforts to Ensure Health Needs for All Citizens Discussed
GENEVA (ST) _Minister of Health Dr. Saad Naef discussed with World Health Organization WHO ‘s Director of the Eastern Mediterranean Region Dr Ala Din Alwan on Saturday in Geneva, challenges facing health sector in Syria and efforts made to meet health needs for all citizens.
The Minister reviewed damages and losses of the health sector in Syria as a result of terrorist attacks, which affected health workers, hospitals, health centers and the system of ambulances , coinciding with the unjust EU and US economic embargo on service sectors and its direct consequences on the health sector, particularly in terms of the difficulty of providing generic medicines as anesthesia ,tumors and chronic diseases drugs which are not produced locally produced and medical equipment, and spare parts mostly of U.S. and European origin.
He stressed that the Ministry ‘s public , private and civil health institutions, are performing their humanitarian duties, in providing health services to all citizens , in cooperation with humanitarian organizations and friendly countries despite all the challenges and pressures on them.
He also stressed the need for more exerted efforts by “humanitarian organizations, particularly (WHO) to meet the health needs” in light of the extensive damage inflected on the health institutions, stressing that the ministry continues rehabilitation and maintenance of affected health facilities and ambulances
For his part, Dr. Alwan said :” WHO will make every effort to support the health sector in Syria to ensure the provision of more health needs .”
The meeting comes on the sidelines of Syria ‘s participation in the 66th session of WHO General Assembly held in Geneva on May 20 to 28 under the title “ways to ensure the status of health in the next generation of global development goals,” and meetings of the 133rd session of WHO ‘s Executive Council.
Syria is currently a member of the Executive Council of WHO ‘s General Assembly, which includes 34 countries out of 194 member states .
Tomader Fateh