Written by Shawqi Al-Hajj

Translated by Daisy Khalil

NNA - The reports of the health teams working in the field in Arsal showed that the health cases in the town have reached high figures, which may be among the highest in the world given the vast numbers of hosted displaced Syrians in the town. The clearest example may be the fact that one of Arsal’s clinics is receiving more than five hundred patients a day, all of them displaced persons. The situation is "tragic", one may say. During some of the most crowded days, the number of patients is stepping over 800.

This dispensary is supported by the Qatari Red Crescent mission in Lebanon. This support comes within the framework of providing incubators and facilitating deliveries. It is also part of the Children and Women's Clinic project executed in Arsal camps and launched by the Mission since the beginning of this year.

The medical coordinator of the Mission, Dr. Fadi Al-Halabi, clarified that "the mission is accommodating the displaced people who are still flocking to the clinic, which has been supported by the Qatari Crescent since its opening this year."
"It [the mission] is working with total care and seriousness, with medical teams deployed in Arsal and prepared to deal with these numbers, to provide primary health care for all," he said, describing the health conditions in camps of displaced people as 'tragic', especially as the children clinic alone receives an average of 61 children a day, and because of this great pressure, sometimes some of the medical cases are being referred to specialists.
He noted that the agency implementing the project charged $13 for natural childbirth and $33 for a Caesarean section, but in spite of this low cost, some of the displaced people cannot afford these fees.

Despite the efforts to provide health care for the displaced Syrians in Arsal, the large numbers still put pressure on the medical teams. One of the main challenges is with newborns, as there are no sufficient incubators in the town.
In this context, al-Halabi pointed out that the Qatari Crescent mission "is working on expanding the project to secure incubators for newborns and scalability."

"Among the babies whose hope in life got restored with the launching of this project, is the twin Mohammed and Fatima Al-bzazah (...) who were born in March 2, 2015, each weighing no more than 1.6 Kg. Their only chance to live was spending around a month in the incubator. Two thousand dollars separated Mohammed and Fatima from a long happy life! After the discount ensured by the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the amount of two thousand dollars remained and the incubator support project handled its payment to the hospital. So, the Red Crescent mission has done everything in its capacity to save newborn children, after their parents were either forced to either leave their papers at the hospital until the payment of the amount, or remove their children from the hospital at their own risk before the end of treatment.

======================D.K.