Syrian patients in the country’s last rebel stronghold of Idlib are facing a healthcare crisis due to the closure of the Bab Al-Hawa crossing into Turkey. The crossing, which was the main access point for medical visits, was closed after a deadly earthquake hit southern Turkey on 6 February. The closure has left seriously ill Syrians unable to access life-saving care across the border. Patients with heart and cancer conditions, burns victims, premature babies, and people requiring complicated surgery have been affected. The situation has been compounded by the disarray of the healthcare system in Syria’s war-scarred Idlib region.
The closure of the Bab Al-Hawa crossing has left Umm Khaled, a mother of four, fearing for her baby’s life. Born just a week before the earthquake, baby Islam has a congenital heart defect that requires urgent cardiac surgery. Islam’s condition is worsening, and she often struggles to breathe. A doctor has warned that repeated episodes could be deadly without an operation or treatment. However, only cancer patients have been allowed to cross into Turkey after months of waiting, and only since Monday.
Doctors in Idlib refer most heart and cancer patients to Turkey, where they can receive free treatment under an agreement between local authorities and Ankara. The Syrian American Medical Society runs the only center in Idlib for cancer patients. Paediatric oncologist Abdel Razzaq Bakur said the clinic lacked diagnostic equipment and medications and had been overwhelmed by “numerous patients who urgently need to be admitted in Turkey.” The children’s ward alone has admitted 30 patients left untreated by the border closure. Around 40 more “haven’t been getting chemotherapy, and their condition is very bad—some risk dying.”
The closure of the Bab Al-Hawa crossing has left Firas Al-Ali, diagnosed with a benign tumor near his brain in 2017, in pain. He has undergone surgery and tests in Turkey, where he usually gets medication and treatment every three months. He had been waiting for treatment on 23 February, but then the earthquake struck. “Due to the delay, I’m getting pain in my eyes and my head,” the 35-year-old blacksmith said. “My treatment is unavailable here, and if it is, it is expensive, and I can’t afford it.”
Rebel-held Idlib is home to around three million people, many of them displaced from other parts of Syria and dependent on humanitarian aid. Government-held areas of Syria are off-limits to civilians from Idlib. The Syrian side of the Bab Al-Hawa crossing into Turkey is controlled by the country’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham.
The closure of the Bab Al-Hawa crossing has left many families struggling to get medicine from Turkey or Lebanon. Prices are often prohibitive, and most people can’t cover their basic daily needs, let alone secure chemotherapy doses. Yusuf Hajj Yusuf, 60, was scheduled to have chemotherapy in Turkey on the day the earthquake struck. A recent scan showed his lung cancer had worsened. He had asked relatives to help pay for treatment in Idlib but “no longer had the strength” to raise funds. “I was very happy about the reopening of the crossing,” he said. “After the earthquake, we cancer patients have suffered a lot. We have all been waiting to return to the Turkish hospitals.”
The situation in Idlib highlights the ongoing healthcare crisis in Syria. The country’s healthcare system has been decimated by years of war, with many hospitals and clinics destroyed or damaged. The COVID-19 pandemic has added to the strain, with Syria reporting over 20,000 cases and 1,400 deaths as of March 2021. The closure of the Bab Al-Hawa crossing has left many Syrians without access to essential medical care, exacerbating an already dire situation.
In conclusion, the closure of the Bab Al-Hawa crossing into Turkey has left seriously ill Syrians in Idlib unable to access life-saving care across the border. Patients with heart and cancer conditions, burns victims, premature babies, and people requiring complicated surgery have been affected. The situation has been compounded by the disarray of the healthcare system in Syria’s war-scarred Idlib region. The closure has left many families struggling to get medicine from Turkey or Lebanon, with prices often prohibitive. The situation in Idlib highlights the ongoing healthcare crisis in Syria, which has been decimated by years of war and the COVID-19 pandemic.