Destruction of the health sector is a signature of the conflict which continues to unfold in Syria. It has occurred in the context of one of the most severe humanitarian crises in the world. Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and others have documented deliberate attacks on health care facilities and personnel during the past 10 years of this crisis, but less attention has been paid to the impact of these long years of conflict, human rights violations, and collapse of health systems on health and health care delivery. Syria’s population arguably needs a functioning health care system more than ever before. Instead, the health system is straining from a decade of deterioration.
PHR’s findings are detailed in our December 2021 report, Destruction, Obstruction, and Inaction: The Makings of a Health Crisis in Northern Syria.