Syrian cancer patients face growing crises due to medicine shortages
DAMASCUS - Amid war, sanctions, and a severe medicine shortage, Syrian cancer patients are facing growing difficulties, with officials warning that only a fraction of essential treatments remain.
“We are currently facing a disaster. Medications have decreased at an alarming and dangerous rate. Out of 95 essential types of medications, only 26 types remain. Among them, 20 types have been reduced to between 10 and 40 percent. Medication is very scarce,” Ibrahim al-Hassani, director of pharmaceutical research and control at the health ministry, told Rudaw.
According to the ministry, Syria records 17,000 new cancer cases annually, including 1,500 among children. The country has 19 treatment centers, but they receive only 20 percent of the medications required.
“The country was under blockade and there was war. Daily life was extremely difficult. My body became very weak, and I had no energy to work. For five years, I endured severe pain from the disease and financial struggles. During my treatment, I took medication for six months and remained under observation for five years until now,” cancer patient Mohammed Yousef told Rudaw.
Yousef said that his condition has now improved after combating his disease during Syria’s civil war.
Cancer medications, once imported from Iran, are no longer available, according to the health ministry. Without international support, the lives of thousands of patients are at risk.
Following a swift offensive, a coalition of rebel groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on December 8 toppled the regime of Assad, who fled to Russia with his family.
“We are currently facing a disaster. Medications have decreased at an alarming and dangerous rate. Out of 95 essential types of medications, only 26 types remain. Among them, 20 types have been reduced to between 10 and 40 percent. Medication is very scarce,” Ibrahim al-Hassani, director of pharmaceutical research and control at the health ministry, told Rudaw.
According to the ministry, Syria records 17,000 new cancer cases annually, including 1,500 among children. The country has 19 treatment centers, but they receive only 20 percent of the medications required.
“The country was under blockade and there was war. Daily life was extremely difficult. My body became very weak, and I had no energy to work. For five years, I endured severe pain from the disease and financial struggles. During my treatment, I took medication for six months and remained under observation for five years until now,” cancer patient Mohammed Yousef told Rudaw.
Yousef said that his condition has now improved after combating his disease during Syria’s civil war.
Cancer medications, once imported from Iran, are no longer available, according to the health ministry. Without international support, the lives of thousands of patients are at risk.
Following a swift offensive, a coalition of rebel groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on December 8 toppled the regime of Assad, who fled to Russia with his family.