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UNHCR Syria donates ambulances and cooling chambers to Ministry of Health (2009-10-15)
Thirty vehicles received in Tartous will be used across the 14 Governorates.
The UN Refugee Agency donated 20 ambulances and 10 cooling chambers to transport medical supplies, consumables and vaccines to the Syrian Ministry of Health on Thursday.
The handover was presided over by Health Minister Dr Rida Said and UNHCR Syria Representative Renata Dubini at the Intermediate Health Institute in Tartous.
In addition to 20 minibuses and 20 field cars donated last April, the vehicles will help national health facilities cope with the increasing demand for medical care from over 215,000 Iraqi refugees registered with UNHCR in Syria. The donation will also serve the Syrian population.
“Since 2007, UNHCR has developed a strategic partnership with the Ministry of Health, in recognition of the burden it shoulders by granting Iraqis access to public health facilities in Syria. This has enabled the Syrian Government to expand its capacity to care for refugees, through the provision of not only primary, but also secondary and tertiary health care. It is indeed a partnership that we are proud of and that we will strive to enhance in the future,” said UNHCR Syria Representative Renata Dubini.
The 30 vehicles will be distributed across the 14 Governorates, mainly in areas of high refugee concentration.
“In recognition of the Syrian Arab Republic’s generosity to refugees, UNHCR has offered much more assistance than these few ambulances and cooling chambers. It has renovated clinics and provided medication, vaccinations and cancer treatment. We thank the UN Refugee Agency for its gift to us today, for what it provided in the past and for what it will offer in the future,” said Syrian Minister of Health Dr Rida Said at the handover ceremony.
The UN Refugee Agency began investing in the Syrian health sector in
2007 and continues to develop new partnerships and agreements with the Ministry of Health, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), and various private hospitals and clinics.
In 2009, UNHCR supported Government procurement of ophthalmologic equipment and consumables, as well as the launch of national vaccination campaigns.
All refugees who are registered with UNHCR have access to subsidised health care nationwide at clinics run by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, UNHCR Syria’s main partner.
An estimated 215,429 Iraqis are registered with UNHCR as of October 2009, of whom almost 44,000 suffer from a critical medical condition.
