Fatima was not able to sleep at night because of, what she described as, a pain in her ear. The pain caused the six-year-old to cry all night.
Her family took her to the nearest health centre in the early hours of the morning, which was the clinic funded by Hands Up and ran by our partner SAMS.
The child was examined by the paediatrician, who after running some tests, found Fatima had anaemia, a suspected urinary infection, and a middle ear infection.
Paediatrician Naseem Al-Diri, who works at the health clinic said: “After conducting the tests, Fatima was prescribed the necessary medicines, and these were dispensed for free from the onsite pharmacy.
“Our community health team also ran a malnutrition screening, where they measured her height and weight. They found that she has chronic malnutrition (stunting). The family were given recommendations on the importance of good, varied nutrition, with the need for periodic visits to follow up on her nutritional status and to check on her health.”
Fatima’s mother said: “I felt that my child was not doing well in terms of growth, and the issue of malnutrition and anaemia did not occur to me. I am very grateful to the staff of the Primary Health Clinic and the great attention my child received from the medical staff.”
Since the start of the conflict in Syria, 70% of medical staff have left the country. There’s also been around 600 attacks on at least 350 medical facilities, resulting in the deaths of 930 medical staff. This has left huge areas of the country with limited or no access to healthcare.
Hands Up support SAMS by funding salaries and covering the cost of running the health clinic, as well as other health projects in the area. Find out more about the work Hands Up do and how you can support us here.
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