Minister of Health: Western coercive measures hinder the capabilities of the health sector

Damascus, (ST) – The Minister of Health, Dr. Hassan Al-Ghubash, stressed that the stage the world is going through today, with all its complexities, is one of the most dangerous in light of the multiplicity of crises and the spread of epidemics, especially the Covid-19 pandemic, which revealed weaknesses and inequality and their exacerbation in both developing and advanced countries alike.

In Syria’s speech to the Executive Council of the World Health Organization in the 150th session held in Geneva via video, the Minister of Health said that, “at a time when countries with strong health and economic systems have faced difficulty in containing the epidemic and saving lives, the United States and European countries continue to impose coercive measures and an indefinite inhuman  siege against Syria, which impedes the ability of the health sector to respond to the pandemic and to provide the necessary equipment for prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

 Regarding the health situation in occupied Palestine and the occupied Syrian Golan, especially the prisoners, Al-Ghabash stressed that the deliberate medical neglect of them practiced by the occupation authorities makes them easy prey for the Coronavirus. He called on the international institutions to assume their urgent responsibilities towards these prisoners.

Al-Ghubash pointed out that thousands of Syrian families continue to be displaced due to the practices committed by the American occupation forces and their “SDF” militia, which amount to war crimes against humanity. He called on all UN humanitarian organizations to provide all forms of emergency relief to support the families who have been forced to flee in these harsh weather conditions.

It is noteworthy that the World Health Assembly unanimously elected Syria last May during its seventy-fourth session to be a member of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization, representing the Eastern Mediterranean Region for a period of three years.

Raghda Sawas