N A VICTORY against the foreign backed terrorists, the Syrian government under President Assad have announced that they have managed to get 52 health centres, hospitals, and medical points back up and running in Aleppo.
Some of the hospitals had to be completely rebuilt as the terrorist forces had shelled them with mortars.
On the fourth anniversary of the liberation of the city, Dr Ziyad Hajj Taha, Director of Aleppo’s Health Department, said that as well as the 52 health centres now up and running, work is currently underway on the restoration of another ten health sites and medically equipping them.
And there are plans drawn up to renovate more medical centres and clinics in the next year, and to supply the emergency system with new ambulances, in addition to supplying the Public Health Programme’s Department with general and specialised mobile clinics for tuberculosis, leishmaniasis and diabetes to serve remote areas where there are currently no specialist health centres.
Taha said that national vaccination campaigns for children are continuing in the province, and medical teams have now been able to enter the city of Ain al-Arab after more than five years of being kept out and they have vaccinated children there, and are providing specialist medical treatments including diabetes, tuberculosis, and thalassemia and at the oncology department in Ibn Rushd Hospital where chemotherapy is being provided to patients for free.
Rubble has now been cleared from the National Hospital, which was destroyed and vandalised by the terrorists, in preparation for its reopening as a study centre, and a new and alternative place for an Ophthalmology Hospital has been chosen, in coordination with the Ministry to supply it with medical equipment.
The main Aleppo Health Department warehouses in Hanano area have been also restored and medical equipment and medicines can now be delivered to them.
Regarding the work of Aleppo Health Department to deal with coronavirus, Zahi Azraq Hospital has been designated to receive Corona patients, and there is also a section temporarily allocated to receive the coronavirus patients in al-Razi Hospital.
Also, a special 40-bed emergency ward at Ibn Khaldoun Hospital, equipped with oxygen cylinders, has been opened to accommodate the increasing number of infected people.
Taha added that special cars have been allocated to transport the infected people, and there is a testing laboratory to swab and analyse suspected coronavirus sufferers and travellers at Zahi Azraq Hospital, which is being restored and has already been partially reopened.
Dr Abdel-Hadi al-Hammoud, Chief of the Resident Doctors at the hospital explained that the cardiac, digestive, internal, thoracic, joint, and multiple sclerosis clinics have been up and running since the beginning of this year and can treat patients throughout the week and conduct all emergency analyses, electrocardiograms, chest radiographs, axial tomography, and echocardiography.
Work is underway to rehabilitate the rest of the medical departments and open the hospital completely.
At Jamal Abdel Nasser Medical Centre in the liberated neighbourhood of al-Halak, Dr Fathi Sharabah, Head of the Centre, spoke about the medical services provided to the neighbourhoods of al-Halak, Bustan Al-Basha, Khan al-Zeitoun, Sheikh Faris and Sheikh Khudir, including vaccination, leishmaniasis, reproductive health and the children’s clinic, free of charge.
Dr Michel Sa’adeh, Head of the Fourth Health Division at Aleppo Health Department, said the centre also receives suspected corona cases which are examined in a room specially designated for that and equipped with sterilizers, masks, gloves, and a full protective gowns for the examining doctor.
Meanwhile, the General Establishment for Drinking Water in Hasaka Province has started to pump water to Hasaka City after a stoppage that lasted for more than 25 days because the Turkish occupation cut off the Alouk water plant.
Director-General of the Establishment, Engineer Mahmoud al-Okleh, said that ‘after finishing the process of pumping water from the tanks in al-Himmeh area to the al-Azizyia plant in Hasaka City, the process of pumping water to the neighbourhoods of Ghwairan Sharqi and Ghwairan Gharbi, al-Lailyia, al-Nashwa al-Sharqiya, al-Zouhor and the southern compounds’ has now started again.
Al-Okleh warned that the Alouk Plant is not completely stable yet as regards the number of wells and pumps, as the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries continue to attack the network that feeds Alouk project with electricity from the al-Dirbasyia power station.
This is the seventeenth time Turkish occupation forces have stopped the Alouk Plant’s operations and prevented pumping water to Hasaka City and the region since they occupied Ras al-Ayn City and its countryside last year.
Syria’s representative to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva, Ambassador Husaam Eddin Ala, stressed that cutting off Hasaka’s drinking water by the Turkish regime and its mercenaries is a war crime and a violation of international human rights law.
It also aims to displace Syrian citizens in line with the expansionist and colonial objectives of the Turkish regime.
This came in a letter to the High Commissioner for Human Rights and in statements to the missions of the member states in Geneva and the Special Rapporteur on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation services, regarding the Turkish regime’s forces and their mercenaries stopping the operation of the Alouk water pumping station.
Ambassador Ala pointed out that the city of Hasaka continues to suffer repeated breaks to its drinking water supply, and this is the 17th time, since October 9th 2019, that the Turkish regime has cut it off after its forces occupied Ras al-Ain city in the northwestern countryside of Hasaka, where the Alouk station is located.
Ala stressed that ‘cutting water to more than a million people is a flagrant violation of the principles of protecting civilian utility and ensuring the continuity of its work.
‘This act is a war crime adding to the crimes of the Turkish regime by aggression on Syrian territory and the occupation of parts of it.’
- Syrian Foreign and Expatriate Minister, Dr Faysal Mikdad, said that Syrian-Russian relations are strategic and historical and will be further strengthened in the future.
In an interview last weekend in Moscow at the end of an official visit to Russia, Mikdad said that those countries that support terrorism and crimes committed in Syria must pay the price, and the West should correct its deadly approach in the world.
‘The important thing for Syria and Russia is to boost their relations, and there is a desire for this as expressed by Presidents Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin,’ he said.
The Minister added that the talks with Russian officials about the current situation in Syria and Russia’s support for the country and the fight against terrorism had been in-depth.
‘Also, we reviewed the areas of economic, cultural and scientific cooperation between the two countries, and this will be consolidated in the future,’ he added.
Mikdad said Syrian delegations had visited Russia over the past weeks, with the aim of deepening commercial, economic, cultural, scientific and development relations.
The Minister said: ‘I see a real development in those relations and Syrians will feel that in the upcoming weeks and months.
‘Unilateral coercive measures against Syria are inhumane and can be classified as war crimes and crimes against humanity,’ the Foreign Minister said in response to a question about US sanctions.
He urged Western countries to correct their deadly approach towards developing countries in the world and not to pursue their interests through inhumane methods which are contrary to international humanitarian law.
Mikdad pointed out that the US policies are inhumane, calling on the Western states to correct their deadly approach and not to pursue their interests through inhuman methods that are in violation of international law.
As for the reconstruction process in Syria, Mikdad affirmed that it has witnessed devastation at the hands of terrorist groups acting on the instructions of their operators in the Western countries, whether in the US or in Western Europe and some countries in the region (i.e. Turkey).
The devastation as been very significant, therefore these sides must pay for these crimes.
As for Russia’s stance in rejection of the US and Turkish occupations of parts of Syria, Mikdad said that the Russian policy is clear and it openly adopts this policy at the UN Security Council, in other UN institutions and in international and regional forums.
Russia applies what it says, believes in justice, and believes in the international law while the Western countries use international law to practice hypocrisy, he said.
Mikdad stressed that the administration of the outgoing US President Donald Trump has caused world-wide destruction.
‘The Americans sabotaged the international organisations and the equations that have been built since the end of the Second World War, and destroyed the international system.
‘Relations between the US and the countries of the world are not based on mutual consent and desire, but are based on US threats, whether by imposing unilateral coercive sanctions or through military pressure.’
Mikdad clarified that if the new US administration wants to work for a safe world, far from threatening and pushing towards wars, it must eliminate these policies and adopt another policy consistent with the UN Charter and with the principle of international cooperation in various fields, and with regard to the sovereignty and independence of world countries.
As for the actions of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Mikdad said: ‘The organisation not only works against Syria, but also works against Russia and it has become a politicised organisation run by Western countries.’
Concerning the work of the Committee for Discussing the (Syrian) Constitution, Mikdad affirmed that the Syrian people want a Syrian constitution, made by Syria, in which the Syrians participate, and a constitution that expresses the sovereignty of Syria and the unity of its territories.
He stressed: ‘We agree with this committee being the master of itself and that the Syrian constitution must be drafted within the interests of the Syrian people and without any external interference.’