Dr Siham Makhoul, Director of the National Hospital of Latakia, Syria. Photo credit: WHO Syria6 February 2024 – I retain vivid memories of the earthquake. At just after 04:00, I was jolted awake by deep rumbling and roaring, and strong shaking. I live with my elderly mother, who is unwell, and my 2 sons; my first thought was to get them to...

25 January 2024 – Abd Nour, a 52-year-old father from Aleppo, has been displaced 3 times with his family owing to the ongoing conflict in Syria. Once a shopkeeper, Abd became a day labourer to support his family after they were forced to flee their home. “For us, it has been very difficult,” he said. “It was hard to make plans not knowing how I would...

3 January 2024 – “After years of suffering, I am finally feeling empowered to regain control over my own destiny,” shared Hana, aged 29 years, who has suffered a series of devastating losses. A decade ago, Hana was forced to flee her home when fighting intensified close to her village in northwest Syria. She left her relatives without saying...

Training on risk assessment and outbreak investigations. Photo credit: WHO/WHO Gaziantep Field Presence Office5 December 2023, Cairo, Egypt, and Gaziantep, Türkiye – To strengthen the response to disease outbreaks and public health emergencies in northwest Syria, WHO conducted a training on risk assessment and outbreak investigations in...

19 November 2023, Damascus, Syria¬ – WHO and the Syrian Ministry of Health recently completed a joint evaluation of the country’s main disease surveillance system, the Early Warning, Alert and Response System (EWARS). Throughout the crisis in Syria, EWARS has been instrumental in detecting outbreaks of measles, cholera and other diseases and...

25 October 2023 – Thirteen-year-old Ahmad was asleep at home in Azmarin, a small village in north-west Syria, when the house began to shake violently in the middle of the night. The deadly earthquakes of 6 February 2023 had begun. Moments later, the house had collapsed, burying Ahmad, his parents, sister and younger brother under the rubble. By the...

10 October 2023, Damascus, Syria – To mark World Mental Health Day, WHO and the Syrian Ministry of Health launched a 2-day workshop for media professionals to emphasize this year’s theme, “Mental health is a universal human right.” The activity aims to improve knowledge, raise awareness and drive actions that promote and protect everyone’s mental...

4 October 2023, Damascus, Syria - The World Health Organization (WHO) recently conducted a regional Green Light Committee (rGLC) mission to Syria, focusing on strengthening Syria's National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP). The mission involved updating the national multi-drug-resistant guidelines and conducting training sessions on new...

Amid the many hardships endured by Syrians, stories of hope, strength and courage emerge. Aya, a 20-year-old from rural Homs Governorate, was diagnosed with kidney disease at the age of 17. Since then, she has had to undergo life-saving dialysis three times a week. "Learning that I would need dialysis was shocking news. I’ve had to accept that the...

19 September 2023, Damascus, Syria – Last week, the Ministry of Health and WHO concluded a two-day workshop on the draft national mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) strategy for Syria. The workshop discussed the vision, goals and actions of the MHPSS strategy under development, which will guide the phased scale-up of MHPSS services...