Syria - In spite of the conflict in Syria making the work of humanitarians difficult, IOM managed to establish two Primary Health Care Centres (PHC) in Lattakia and Homs for people displaced by the fighting in the country.

In Lattakia, 4,772 displaced Syrians have been living for the last two years in “Sport City”, a sport facility with a stadium and a basketball court that now functions as a shelter. The district of Al-insha’at in Homs hosts as many as 25,000 displaced people.

Health services are lacking for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the two cities, as there are neither operational PHCs nor any public health facilities. Furthermore, the living conditions of the displaced and affected population continue to be challenging in meeting basic needs, like access to water and electricity, food, health and education for the children.

“Among the Syrians who are going through difficult times because of the ongoing conflict, the displaced people are the ones suffering the most. They have very little access to relief and their access to health care is very limited. It is important for IOM to make sure that primary health care is available for them as well. Women, children, the elderly, vulnerable people with disabilities and chronic health problems are priority groups for IOM,” said Dr. Basem Stass, IOM Syrian Health Coordinator.

IOM aims to expand its primary healthcare outreach to displaced and affected populations in areas that lack such basic services by opening seven additional health centres before the end of the year – four in Aleppo, one in Hama, one in Idleb and one in Damascus.

The health centres have been established in partnership with the Ministry of Health in Lattakia and with the Al-insha’at Association in Homs and started offering services respectively on 16 September and 31 August.

These health centres are community-based, run by local NGOs and financed by Japan.

For more information please contact

Maria Rumman
IOM Syria
Email: mrumman@iom.int