Damascus- Release Qatar Red Crescent A project that includes 24 teams in the northwest SyriaWith the aim of reducing deaths and saving the lives of thousands of children by providing medical services and nutritional supplements in the camps of the displaced, in light of the challenges of interruption of support and complex field conditions.
The Qatari team announced, in a statement, that they are continuing the implementation of the “project to improve access to comprehensive nutrition programs, nutrition and infants in emergency situations” in northwestern Syria.
The project includes the deployment of 9 fast response teams and 15 air -to -air teams to ensure the coverage of remote and most needy areas, with a focus on the weakest groups, who are children under the age of five and pregnant and lactating women.
The project aims to:
- Early detection of acute malnutrition.
- Conduct medical examinations.
- Providing preventive nutritional supplements.
- Referring critical cases to specialized treatment centers.
- Commitment to internationally approved emergency protocols and standard operating procedures.
“Umm Muhammad”, who is displaced in one of the camps Idlib For Al -Jazeera Net, “This project was a lifeline for my family, so my young son Yasser was suffering from an acute weight deficiency, and I was afraid to lose it due to malnutrition, so we could not buy enough food or access to medical clinics.”
“When the mobile teams arrived at the camp, they examined my child and gave him food supplements, and gave us advice to take care of him. Now, after weeks of follow -up, his condition improved greatly, and he looked active and vital.”
As for Samer Najjar, a resident of Al -Diaa camp, north of Idlib, he was unable to return to his home due to his destruction, and he has two twin children suffering from malnutrition, but he managed to overcome the danger after obtaining primary care and food for children from the Qatar Crescent Center.
“We, as a displaced, have become forgotten, so we could not return to our homes and there are no assistance to help us to bear the burdens of living, and had it not been for the provision of free health care for us, my children would have lost their lives, so I and most of the displaced are not able to bring special food and do not pay the price of medical care,” he says to Al -Jazeera Net.
According to the protocol
For its part, the nutritional official in the Syrian Ministry of Health, Dr. Hala Dawood, referred to mechanisms to reduce malnutrition among children and pregnant and lactating women, in addition to supplementary local programs that support the Qatar Red Crescent project, and focus on early monitoring and rapid intervention to address malnutrition cases.
Among the most prominent challenges facing health cadres – according to Hala Dawood – the lack of transportation, the absence of material incentives for workers, the weak infrastructure and logistical equipment, which negatively affects the quality and continuity of services, as some cases require ambulance transportation to ensure that patients arrive quickly and receive the necessary treatment.
She stressed the importance of continuous training for cadres to ensure commitment to national health protocols, noting the role of accurate data in identifying the most needy areas, as this data prompted the ministry to address international organizations to send mobile teams to those areas to follow up and treat cases.
Hala Dawood explained that hospitals and health centers play a vital role in following up cases from mobile teams, while providing feedback to ensure the effectiveness of treatment.
The project is implemented Global Health AndUNICEFWith cadres training through field workshops to ensure the provision of uniform and high -quality services.
Project Challenges
In the context, the head of the representative office of the Qatari Red Crescent in Turkey and Syria, Mazen Abdullah, says that the project faces several challenges, most notably the high rates of displacement between 2011 and 2024, and the consequent return of the displaced to their original areas, which affected the stability of the project cadres and caused the implementation of the implementation in some sites.
He stated that the selection of the targeted areas depends on coordination with the health and nutrition sectors and local health directorates, in addition to the needs of the needs issued by the Qatari Red Crescent and its partners. “We are focusing on areas with poor healthy structure, high displacement and malnutrition rates, and we are seeking to benefit the most fragile groups,” he said.
Abdullah explained that the standards used to determine the targeted groups include children under the age of five and pregnant and lactating women, based on internationally accredited health indicators to determine malnutrition, including: the midst of the humerus, length, and weight.
On the coordination between the mobile teams and the specialized treatment centers, Abdullah indicated that they adopt an integrated referral system that guarantees the diagnosis of the condition in the field, documenting it and determining the degree of its risk, while providing medical accompaniment when needed.
He added, “We are following the cases after referral, to ensure its commitment to the treatment plan and enhance the opportunities for recovery in the framework of a cooperative health system.”
Plans to develop
On the supplements provided, Abdullah stressed that the project provides accurate nutrients ready for use of children and treatment foods when necessary, and they bring them from accredited suppliers with international organizations and are subject to strict control.
He revealed their plan with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to expand the project, to include additional areas in Syria. “We are currently covering 30 sites, and we are seeking to expand the services map according to the need,” he added.
They also measure the impact of the project through a team that uses approved assessment tools, tribal and dimensional, including measuring malnutrition indicators, successful referral rates, and the number of beneficiaries, in order to develop future plans and improve the field response, he said.
The project relies – according to Abdullah – on the community feeding protocols approved by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, which include early detection, referral of critical cases, and distribution of nutritional supplements safely, and train their teams constantly and provide them with field guidelines to unify performance and provide the best services.
He stated that the project is implemented with the support of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs “Ocha”, in coordination with humanitarian partners within the nutrition and health sectors, to avoid duplication and enhance integration in geographical coverage and referrals.
He stressed that the Qatari Red Crescent attaches great importance to the sustainability of the project, by training local cadres, enhancing societal awareness, and gradually transferring some tasks to local partners, adding that they diversify the sources of financing and enrich partnerships to maintain the positive impact of the project in the medium and long term.
For its part, the Nutrition Coordinator of the Qatar Red Crescent, Kafaa Debu, said that the project aims to improve access to comprehensive nutrition programs, infants and young children, especially in emergency situations.
The project includes 15 fixed centers integrated with health centers, hospitals and clinics, providing multiple services, including providing preventive supplements for healthy children, microscopic nutrients, vitamins and therapeutic nutrients for cases of malnutrition according to the approved standards.
They also – according to Dibo’s efficiency – make a dietary survey of pregnant and lactating women, to ensure a safe pregnancy and childbirth in good health, and says they are facing challenges, the most prominent of which is the interruption of support and the suspension of many health centers, and thus increased pressure on their centers.
After the liberation operations, other challenges emerged, represented by the return of the population to their areas from which they were displaced, without the availability of centers that provide the same nutrition and health care services, which threatens to worsen malnutrition again due to the lack of nutritional supplements and health services.