Millions of Children's Lives at Risk in Collapse of Syrian Health System

20-03-2014 11:38

On last March 9, 2014.

Syria's shattered health system is forcing health workers to engage in brutal medical practices and a series of epidemics have left millions of children exposed to a plethora of deadly diseases, Save the Children says in a new report.

The report, "A Devasting Toll: the Impact of Three Years of War on the Health of Syria's Children", sheds light on a broken health system and its consequences: children not just dying from violent means but from diseases that would previously either have been treatable or prevented.

The extent of the health system collapse in Syria is borne out in many horrific ways, including:

•    Children having limbs amputated because clinics don't have necessary equipment for appropriate treatment;
•    Newborn babies dying in their incubators during power cuts;
•    Patients being knocked out with metal bars owing to a lack of anesthesia;
•    Patients undergoing potentially deadly person-to-person blood transfusions.