Syria. The rebirth of Raqqa

The Maternity and Paediatric wing of Raqqa public hospital  has been opened: as the City, Daesh stronghold in Syria, is slowly coming back to life.

“Ensuring that people have access to good, free healthcare: that was our goal. We are extremely proud to have achieved our goal.” says Doctor Pedro, who has been working with us in Syria for three years, dedicated to rebuilding the healthcare system and training other doctors to do an even better job.

A hospital in the rubble: this is what we see here in Raqqa, a city which for many years was the stronghold of Daesh (Islamic State) in Syria, completely destroyed during the war, which is now slowly coming back to life. Piles of rubble, blocks of cement, ruins of houses and apartment blocks: “ The decision to build a hospital here in the middle of all this devastation might seem strange,” explains Pedro “but there are more than 150,000 people living here who otherwise would have no access to healthcare.”

More than 300 patients every day, mainly women and children:after many months of work, Raqqa now has a public hospital, with a maternity and paediatric wing operating 24 hours a day, thanks to the hard work of the Kurdish Red Crescent, our partners since 2015.

The main wing of the hospital was completely rebuilt and restructured. the maternity wing provides pre and post natale assistance to pregnant women, and can cope with gynaecological, obstetric and paediatric  emergencies. Special rooms were prepared for natural birth, caesarean births and assistance for newborns. Finally, they introduced a whole ambulance system. Alongside medical work, there are also special training courses for medical and para-medical figures, with a special focus on maternity and paediatrics.

“We are proud of what we have achieved. We just have to keep building on our successes to make it even better,” says Pedro with a smile.

All this work, implemented by the “Darna” project (“Our House”) was made possible by financing from Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development (AICS), as part of the MAECI humanitarian aid programme.