10-year-old Yahya. from eastern Ghouta, after receiving treatment in a WHO supported hospital in Damascus19 December 2018 – A generous donation of US$ 1 000 000 from the State of Kuwait has brought a glimmer of hope to cancer patients in Syria at a time when public health services have been badly disrupted.

Children being vaccinated against polio. WHO Syria.2 December 2018 – The polio outbreak of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) detected in 2017 in Syria has been successfully stopped, with no international spread, according to experts.

An official outbreak response assessment, comprising experts in global public health, virology and epidemiology, reviewed all available surveillance and immunization evidence from the past 18 months, and conducted first-hand field visits to the affected areas, including the epicentre of the outbreak, Deir Ez-Zor. The group concluded that the outbreak could now be closed.

WHO supplies being delivered to Aleppo in 2017 29 November 2018 – At around midnight on 24 November 2018, WHO received unconfirmed reports of patients arriving in health facilities in Aleppo with symptoms that might be consistent with exposure to chemical agents. At approximately the same time, the United Nations Department of Safety and Security office in Syria reported unconfirmed information that the Al-Zahraa, Al-Khaldiyyeh and Nile Street areas of Aleppo city had been shelled with rounds of mortar fire that included an unknown type of gas. According to unconfirmed reports, dozens of patients were being admitted to Aleppo’s two public hospitals.