Syria faces shortages of health supplies
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Members of a Syrian family register as refugees in northern Lebanon.
Hospitals and clinics in Syria are facing shortages in medicines and pharmaceutical products, says the World Health Organization (WHO).
The United Nations health agency says that before the conflict broke out, Syria produced 90 per cent of its medicines and drugs locally.
Furthermore, WHO says 90 per cent of the country's pharmaceutical plants are located in Aleppo, Homs and Rural Damascus, where the recent escalation of clashes resulted in substantial damage to them.
Tarik Jasarevic is WHO spokesperson in Geneva.
"Many of these plants had now closed down and the result is shortage of medicines. What has been reported to the World Health Organization by health providers is that the most urgently needed medicines include drugs for tuberculosis, hepatitis, hypertension, diabetes and cancer, as well as equipment for kidney diseases and haemodialysis. There is also urgent need for chemical reagents for blood screening tests to ensure the safety and quality of blood used in surgical and trauma cases."
Duration: 28"
