Save the Children has just put a Report about the dire state of care medical care available to children - and adults - in Syria. It makes for devastating reading - an entire health system collapsing, if not already collapsed - and is an indictment of the world which is allowing this diabolical situation to continue.
"Syria's health system is collapsing and children are dying and being maimed by a lack of health care, a new report from a global charity says.
Save The Children interviewed a series of doctors working inside Syria and collated reports from United Nations agencies and other charities to reveal chilling deficiencies in Syria's health system.
Doctors report that some patients who cannot get anaesthetic for surgery opt to be clubbed with a metal bar so they lose consciousness.
Wounded children are having their limbs amputated because of a lack of medical staff and equipment, and newborns are dying in their cribs because electricity is cut off or fails.
Half of Syria's doctors have fled and 60 per cent of its hospitals and clinics have been damaged or destroyed, the charity says.
It also says as many as 200,000 people have died from chronic illnesses because of a lack of medicine.
Save the Children's Misty Buswell says one doctor, working in the basement of a house, told of cutting off the limbs of children because of a lack of crucial supplies.
"We hear doctors telling us that children are brought in and all they can do is wait for them to die because they have no equipment to treat them," she said.
The Save The Children team found similar problems when they went to visit a clinic that was supposed to be treating diabetics.
"When they had visited this clinic it had been completely shut down because there was no more insulin and no more doctors to support them," Ms Buswell said.
"The one doctor that was on duty had no idea what had happened to any of his patients."
She said 25 per cent of victims of explosive weapons in Syria require amputations, double the amount the charity sees in other conflicts around the world.
Women delivering babies on hospital doorsteps: charity
In Syria, pregnant mothers are faced with especially hard choices about how to bring their children into the world.
Having a caesarean section in a war zone leaves women recovering from major surgery knowing they might need to flee at any moment.
But the rate of babies delivered by caesarean section has shot up from 19 to 45 per cent, according to the report.
Women are frightened they might not be able to get to a doctor or a midwife when the moment comes.
"We've heard of women who have delivered their babies on the doorsteps of hospitals that are about to be destroyed," Ms Buswell said.
"So this is just incredibly difficult and stressful and their lives are at risk."
Save the Children says a UN Security Council resolution demanding aid across Syria's frontlines must be acted on and all sides must stop targeting health facilities."
"Syria's health system is collapsing and children are dying and being maimed by a lack of health care, a new report from a global charity says.
Save The Children interviewed a series of doctors working inside Syria and collated reports from United Nations agencies and other charities to reveal chilling deficiencies in Syria's health system.
Doctors report that some patients who cannot get anaesthetic for surgery opt to be clubbed with a metal bar so they lose consciousness.
Wounded children are having their limbs amputated because of a lack of medical staff and equipment, and newborns are dying in their cribs because electricity is cut off or fails.
Half of Syria's doctors have fled and 60 per cent of its hospitals and clinics have been damaged or destroyed, the charity says.
It also says as many as 200,000 people have died from chronic illnesses because of a lack of medicine.
Save the Children's Misty Buswell says one doctor, working in the basement of a house, told of cutting off the limbs of children because of a lack of crucial supplies.
"We hear doctors telling us that children are brought in and all they can do is wait for them to die because they have no equipment to treat them," she said.
The Save The Children team found similar problems when they went to visit a clinic that was supposed to be treating diabetics.
"When they had visited this clinic it had been completely shut down because there was no more insulin and no more doctors to support them," Ms Buswell said.
"The one doctor that was on duty had no idea what had happened to any of his patients."
She said 25 per cent of victims of explosive weapons in Syria require amputations, double the amount the charity sees in other conflicts around the world.
Women delivering babies on hospital doorsteps: charity
In Syria, pregnant mothers are faced with especially hard choices about how to bring their children into the world.
Having a caesarean section in a war zone leaves women recovering from major surgery knowing they might need to flee at any moment.
But the rate of babies delivered by caesarean section has shot up from 19 to 45 per cent, according to the report.
Women are frightened they might not be able to get to a doctor or a midwife when the moment comes.
"We've heard of women who have delivered their babies on the doorsteps of hospitals that are about to be destroyed," Ms Buswell said.
"So this is just incredibly difficult and stressful and their lives are at risk."
Save the Children says a UN Security Council resolution demanding aid across Syria's frontlines must be acted on and all sides must stop targeting health facilities."
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