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Medical care on the frontline - North Syria

Bringing aid close to the frontline

An overview of the work of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Aleppo governorate, in the north of Syria, and the situation the population is faced with.

Aleppo governorate has open frontlines on its territory and is one of the areas most heavily affected by six years of war in the country. The area hosts dozens of camps for internally displaced people where some Iraqi nationals have also taken refuge.

Medical staff at Al Salamah, an MSF-run hospital near the Turkish border, have carried out thousands of consultations and surgical interventions and assisted hundreds of births. In the Al Bab area of Aleppo governorate, basic healthcare is provided to a population living in difficult conditions and without electricity. An immunisation programme is also underway, as the war has left many children unvaccinated against preventable diseases.

Medical care on the frontline - North Syria
Patients in the waiting room of Al Salamah, a 34-bed hospital that MSF opened in 2012 close to the Turkish border in the Azaz district.
MSF
Medical care on the frontline - North Syria
In 2016, staff at Al Salamah hospital conducted 46,337 outpatient consultations, 2,489 inpatient consultations, 26,091 emergency room treatments, 1,933 surgical procedures and assisted 578 births. The hospital also refers patients to Turkey.
MSF
Medical care on the frontline - North Syria
Since the Syrian conflict escalated in 2012, the vast majority of children born in many parts of Syria have not been vaccinated against preventable diseases such as measles, rubella, tetanus or pneumonia. Here, an MSF nurse in Al Salamah hospital vaccinates a child as part of an expanded immunisation programme (EPI).
MSF
Medical care on the frontline - North Syria
MSF is providing basic healthcare in the Al Bab area of Aleppo governorate. Some areas that were previously under the control of Islamic State now host internally displaced people, as well as locals who have returned from places like Aleppo city because of the conflict. More than 100 patients arrive at the health centres daily.
MSF
Medical care on the frontline - North Syria
A nurse in an MSF health centre in Al Bab district puts an oxygen mask on a child. Vast areas of the district are without electricity, living conditions are basic and healthcare is limited.
MSF
Medical care on the frontline - North Syria
A nurse pricks the finger of an elderly woman for a diabetic analysis at an MSF-run health centre in the Al Bab district of Aleppo governorate. Services such as care for chronic diseases, family planning and mental health have fallen by the wayside during the six years of war in Syria because medical staff have to prioritise emergencies.
MSF
Medical care on the frontline - North Syria
Many medical staff have left Syria because of the war. Those who remain conduct their activities with limited supplies. Here, a pharmacist checks the expiration date of a medicine before giving it to a patient.
MSF
Medical care on the frontline - North Syria
An MSF doctor checks the medical condition of a child in a health centre in Aleppo governorate.
MSF
Medical care on the frontline - North Syria
Hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost during the six years of war in Syria. This man, who was injured in a mine explosion, walks through the corridor of an MSF health centre in the Al Bab district of Aleppo governorate.
MSF
Medical care on the frontline - North Syria
A man injured in a mine explosion is treated by an MSF doctor.
MSF
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