HATAY, Turkey
By Ilgin Karlidag and Furkan Naci Top
With Syria's health-care system collapsed due to the country's ongoing civil war, doctors have been risking their own lives to save as many people as possible, according to a UK-born Syrian doctor.
38-year old Dr. Fadi Al-Dairi is one of the founders of the charity Hand in Hand for Syria, that runs six hospitals across Syria with help from donations.
In an attempt to save as many lives as possible in war-torn Syria, officials in these hospitals are strictly forbidden from asking patients about their religious or political background before treating them.
Not knowing the identity of the patients allows anyone, from Assad’s regime to the opposition, to be treated.
"Once they are outside of the door, I don’t care what their beliefs are," Al-Dairi said. "The hospitals are open for everyone to be treated."
More than 200 people are being treated everyday at the hospitals, which mainly receive women and children for routine treatment, Al-Dairi said.
Al-Dairi left his job and family in the UK to help people in Syria from across the border in Turkey. He said one of the events that affected him the most was when the first Syrian baby was born at the first hospital launched by his organization.
"I felt so proud and I just cried," he said. "We see death in one hospital and you see hope when you go to the children's hospital."
Al-Dairi said one of the most generous countries in terms of humanitarian aid to Syria is Turkey, which has recieved more than 600,000 Syrian refugees since the civil war began in 2011.
The destruction of Syria's health system means hospitals are one of the main goals for Syria, according to Al-Dairi, who added that if all the charities would get together to help then they would only be able to cover half of the need.
Because the hospitals funded by the charity organization are running on low capacity, hospital officials need to buy medicine more freely and in a more controlled environment, Al-Dairi said.
A way to ease this problem would be if Turkish hospitals could donate used equipment instead of selling or throwing them away, according to Al-Dairi.
"Turkey is a massive country and surely there is a hospital somewhere renewing their equipment," Al-Dairi said.
Hand in Hand for Syria runs six hospitals across the conflict-torn country, including the capital Damascus, the northwestern city of Idlib and the Iraqi border.
The organization also provides training in Reyhanli for doctors in order to prepare them for difficult conditions in Syria. These doctors are of both Syrian and UK origin, Al-Dairi said.
Over 100,000 people have been killed and more than eight million others have been driven from their homes since the conflict erupted in March 2011 between the Syrian government and various groups seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
