Sekîne Erebo, one of the executives of Heyva Sor a Kurd in Afrin Region, said that the number of leishmaniasis cases in Shehba has risen to 1,700 in a year and asked international humanitarian organizations to provide assistance to prevent its spread.
The ongoing conflicts in the northern Syrian canton of Shehba continue to affect children and elder people who migrated from Afrin. Refugees who live under difficult conditions in camps and devastated houses also have to fight against diseases.
According to the Kurdish Red Crescent Heyva Sor a Kurd, the number of patients infected with leishmaniasis reached 3,092 in 2019, 1,191 in 2020, and nearly 1,700 in 2021. Despite its limited resources, the Heyva Sor a Kurd is providing vaccines to patients to prevent the spread of leishmaniasis.
Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease which is spread by the bite of phlebotomine sand flies.
Erebo revealed that there are two types of Leishmaniasis, sub surface skin and skin. She noted that Heyva Sor a Kurd offers treatment for all patients and they refer seriously ill patients to Aleppo.
'DAMASCUS EMBARGO MAKES MEDICATION DELIVERY DIFFICULT'
Erebo recalled that there has been a medicine shortage in the Shehba Canton for a long while. "Since the Syrian government does allow trucks carrying medical supplies to enter the region, we are having difficulty in finding the medicine required to treat the leishmaniasis patients."
Erebo stressed that no aid organization has offered help to them. "It has been 4 years since the people of Afrin sought refuge here, yet we have not received any medical assistance from international health organizations,” she noted.
CALL FOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE
“We are carrying out campaigns in seven centres of the Shehba Canton to diagnose and identify the modes of transmission and prevention of the disease. We also urge the international organizations to provide medical assistance to us,” Erebo concluded.
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