Pretoria - Cabinet has commended the volunteers who formed part of the humanitarian mission, led by the Gift of the Givers, to Syria.
The non-governmental organisation entered war-torn Syria on Monday. The team, which is made up of doctors, is staffing a hospital in the north-western Syria town of Darkoush. They are carrying medical suppliers to the value of R4 million.
On Wednesday, the organisation’s chairman Imtiaz Sooliman said the mood of the medical team was upbeat, slowly having come to terms with the continuous sound of shells and the staccato of gunfire around the city in the last few days.
Sooliman, who uses the social network Twitter for regular updates, said patients from all over North Syria come to the hospital to seek medical attention. In less than 48 hours, more than 500 patients have already been treated, including the delivery of twins and several surgical procedures.
He tweeted that there was a hive of activity, with every patient tugging at their sleeves as a desperate population eagerly seeks quality healthcare disrupted by two years of on-going civil conflict.
Sooliman said his team had put aside their emotions because “people want to be healed, lives have to be saved”.
The organisation has also called on extra passport holding medicals to join the team in Syria. A call has been made for a general and orthopaedic surgeon; anaesthetist; theatre nurse; paediatrician and four general practitioners. The organisation will pay for transportation.
Those interested are requested to contact Ayesa Sooliman on 083 654 3414.
Top UN officials on Thursday reported worsening humanitarian situation in Syria.
Conditions are most severe in combat and opposition-controlled areas, with the latest figures showing 6.8 million people in need; 4.25 million people internally displaced and an additional 1.3 million seeking refuge in neighbouring countries from a conflict that has reportedly killed over 70 000 people over the past two years.
"While the humanitarian situation on the ground is becoming more and more disastrous every day, the limitations on the ground have forced us to being precariously close to suspending some critical humanitarian operations," UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, said while briefing the UN Security Council.
She called on the 15-nation council to take actions to promote a political solution to the Syrian crisis.
"We are approaching a point of no return. Members of the international community, particularly members of this council must urgently come together in support of the Syrian people," she said.
"This Council must also request the parties to ensure the safe and unimpeded access of aid organisations to those in need in all areas of Syria."
Syrian main cities have been devastated, waste is piling up, and concerns about outbreaks of diarrhoea and cholera are growing in the absence of the urgent restoration of the most basic services.
In Aleppo, doctors lack blood banks, anaesthetic or even suture thread while the hospital and its staff are regularly hit during fighting.
Children are among those who suffer the most, with three million already affected, including two million displaced, Amos said, noting that children have been murdered, tortured and subjected to sexual violence. Many do not have enough food to eat and millions have been traumatised by the horrors they have witnessed.
"This brutal conflict is not only shattering Syria's present, it is also destroying its future," she said. - SAnews.gov.za
