The Global Health Issues Regarding War and Conflict in Syria
When it comes to war and conflict global health issues are often overlooked. One of many of the issues is regarding the lack of hygiene and sanitization. Because of this, there are more infectious diseases being spread, infections are thriving, and other health issues regarding genetics or lacking water and nutrition are growing (Karasapan. 2016.). As of 2016, around 470,000 Syrians have been killed, 406 million displaced refugees, and 1.9 million wounded (Karasapan. 2016.). The World Health Organization (WHO) reported 57% of Syria’s public hospitals are damaged, 37% are no longer functioning (Karasapan. 2016).
As of 2021, 50% of Syria’s health facilities have been destroyed while as 70% of the health care providers fled due to displacement (Alhaffar. 2021.). When I studied in London and learned more in depth of the importance of hygiene and sanitization, it is vital that you have a sanitized area for healthcare to prevent infections during surgeries. I also learned of the importance of how hygiene and sanitization also help stop the spread of infectious diseases. This is important to keep in mind while we dive deeper into why sanitization and hygiene are important for the Syrian people as their hospitals are being damaged and destroyed. This is also important regarding outside of hospitals as the diseases spread rapidly with no medication or vaccines and also with no access to sanitization products or clean water.
As of 2021, there is a major need for COVID-19 pandemic services, occupational health, infectious disease, communicable diseases, and oral health in Syria (Alhaffar. 2021.). There will need to be a collaborative effort to provide these services (Alhaffar. 2021.). Unfortunately, there are major aid cuts as of 2024 therefore, it’s difficult for NGO organizations to provide proper healthcare in Syria (Gajkar. 2024.). This includes not having a lot of the proper supplies needed to provide such care (Gajkar. 2024.). While surgeries and other specialty services are needed, there is a major need for mental health services in Syria (Hijazi, et. al. n.d.).
Syrians suffer from major PTSD issues and other traumas from the war and therefore need to have proper treatment from professionals (Hijazi, et al. N.d.). Amongst older patients there are 54% of severe emotional disorders, 17% epilepsy, and 11% psychotic disorders (Hijazi, et al. N.d.). Amongst the Paediatric patients there are 26.6% epilepsy, 26.6% intellectual and development disorders, and 3.6% of emotional disorders (Hijazi, et. al. n.d.). As of June 2024, there’s almost 7.5 million children in Syria who need humanitarian assistance with around 90% of families living in poverty since the war began in 2011 (UNICEF. 2024.). Because of the lack of nutrition and access to clean water, the infectious diseases spread, and a lot of these infectious diseases are preventable through proper hygiene, vaccines, and medications (UNICEF. 2024.).
There are 2073 papers as of 2019 regarding health-related issues in Syria which include Damascus and Aleppo as the most studied (Abouzeid, et. al. 2021.). However, there’s plenty of research regarding the importance of hygiene and sanitization when it comes to healthcare and the spread of infectious diseases and also infections overall. When it comes to the importance of hygiene, it helps prevent the spread of infectious diseases, help to spend less on healthcare, and also helps keep kids involved in their education and extracurricular activities (UNICEF. N.d.). It can also help keep kids stay involved in social programs and activities which also have better outcomes in learning (UNICEF. N.d.). However, there is also a political and socioeconomic crisis happening in Syria which also effects the outcomes in global health issues (WHO. 2024.).
So, how did the war start and when did it start? The war started in Syria on March 15, 2011 (Stevens. 2017.). The war began after a 14-year-old boy, Naief Abazid spray painted Syria President Bashar al-Assad (Stevens. 2017.). This happened on the date of February 16, 2011, and it started off as a joke which would start war on the Syrian people (Stevens. 2017.). The joke was that Syria’s Baathist dictatorship would fall in the Arab Spring revolutions (Stevens. 2017.).
When it comes to access to clean water and nutritious foods along with access to medicines and vaccines it becomes scarce and difficult (WHO. 2024). There is also a sterilization/sanitization issue which also helps lower the spread of infectious diseases and infections (WHO. 2024.). A lot of Syrians in the northeast are severely malnourished and in high-risk for epidemic prone diseases (WHO. 2024.). Let’s look back to the time periods of 1854-1856 when Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) learned of health issues regarding overcrowding and lacking hygiene in the Crimean War (The National Archives. N.d.). “The lady with the lamp”.
It was November 04, 1854, when Florence Nightingale and her 38 nurses arrived in Turkey to care for the soldiers in the Crimean War (The National Archives. N.d.). During this time, Britain and Russia were at war called the Crimean War (The National Archives. N.d.). When Florence Nightingale and her nurses arrived at the Scutari, the army base hospital, they noticed it was poorly stocked with resources (The National Archives. N.d.). They also found it was not stocked with proper food or medicine (The National Archives. N.d.). Florence Nightingale found her patients sleeping in filth and overcrowding which suggests the spread of infectious diseases like typhus, cholera, and dysentery (The National Archives. N.d.).
Florence Nightingale and her nurses washed the clothes of everyone and had cooks make meals for proper nutrition (The National Archives. N.d.). Because of this, the death rate slowed down at Scutari (The National Archives. N.d.). Florence and her nurses created the standards of modern nursing (The National Archives. N.d.). When Florence returned to Britain, she began to campaign for the importance on quality of nursing in military hospitals (The National Archives. N.d.). In 1857, Florence met with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and she gave evidence on the importance of sanitization which started the Sanitary Commission and set up the Army Medical College (The National Archives. N.d.).
Conclusion, Florence Nightingale found the importance of hygiene during a war in which she found that a lot of deaths came from diseases and not wounds (The National Archives. N.d.). Because of this, it’s important to realize the importance on hygiene and sanitization along with the importance of access to clean water and nutrition to help stop the spread of diseases (The National Archives. N.d.). Hygiene prevents the spread of diseases and to help spend less on healthcare (UNICEF. N.d.). When it comes to lacking proper nutrition, clean water, medicines, and vaccines it makes the death rate of the Syrian people go up, but it also makes the Syrian suffer from illnesses and infectious diseases along with starvation and dehydration (WHO. 2024.). There is also an importance regarding healthcare workers, sanitized areas, enclosed sanitized areas for surgeries or other healthcare services, socioeconomic issues, political issues and how the Syrian people are prone to diseases because of these issues (WHO. 2024.).
References
· Marian Abouzeid, Manal K. Elzalabany, Iman Nuwayhid, and Samer Jabbour. 2021, December 14. Conflict-related health research in Syria, 2011-2019: a scoping review for The Lancet – AUB Commission on Syria. Retrieved from https://conflictandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13031-021-00384-3
· UNICEF. N.d. Hygiene. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/wash/hygiene
· Krista Stevens. 2017, February 14. Six Years Later, over 400,000 Dead: The Graffiti Kids Who Sparked the Syrian War. Retrieved from https://longreads.com/2017/02/14/six-years-later-over-400000-dead-the-graffiti-kids-who-sparked-the-syrian-war/
· World Health Organization (WHO). 2024, June 18. Syria Crisis. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/emergencies/situations/syria-crisis
· Omer Karasapan. 2016, February 23. The war on Syria’s health system. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-war-on-syrias-health-system/
· M.D.D. Bahaa Aldin Alhaffar & Sandor Janos. 2021. Public health consequences after ten years of the Syrian crisis: a literature review. Retrieved from https://globalizationandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12992-021-00762-9
· Valeria Gholizadeh Gajkar. 2024, May 24. Healthcare in Syria is at risk of collapse. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/5/24/healthcare-in-syria-is-at-risk-of-collapse
· Zeinab Hijazi & Inka Weissbecker. N.d. Syria Crisis. Retrieved from https://internationalmedicalcorps.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Syria-Crisis-Addressing-Mental-Health.pdf
· UNICEF. 2024, June 26. Syrian Crisis. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/syrian-crisis
· The National Archives. N.d. Florence Nightingale: Who do we remember her? Retrieved from https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/florence-nightingale/
