Leishmaniasis…a disease infects more than 5000 citizens in Hama countryside, and continues to spread amid the absence of needed medical care and the deteriorating health situation
The ongoing war and the deteriorating humanitarian, health and living conditions are continuing to bring unprecedented catastrophes and tragic situations, to the Syrian people, who are put in experiences that are getting harder and harder, and despite the acceptance and adaptation to the fait accompli as there is no other choice, the catastrophe is continuing and the solution is not easily presented, and aid comes in batches by the parties that are responsible for this present situation that has effects on the future, and among many results of the ongoing war in Syria since 2011, the environmental pollution in Syria was present in every stage, every year and every situation, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored it, through spotting the lights on the cases of the successive breakdowns caused by the situation’s gradual deterioration, amid continued fall without any rise to better conditions.
The humanitarian conditions in the areas that are beyond of the regime’s control, gave the chance for many diseases, and the cutaneous diseases in particular, to spread in an escalated manner during the past years, where medic sources informed the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, that the cutaneous leishmaniasis heads the list of these diseases, and the medic sources described it that it almost expresses, in one way or another, the great deterioration of the level of the environmental pollution and the deteriorating services in Syria, especially in those areas that witnessed armed conflicts between the regime forces against the armed opposition factions, the medic sources also confirmed to the SOHR, that more than 5000 persons have been infected this disease in the northern countryside of Hama province, which suffered from the consequents of the war that took place in it, represented by the destruction, rubble and spreading of garbage, the deterioration in the medic section, the damage of the sewage network, and other reasons that makes the areas where such reasons are present, as a fertile land for this disease, and the medic sources talked to the Syrian Observatory about the leishmaniasis where they said that it is an infection that infects the skin and causes painful skin ulcers, caused by the bite of a fly called the sandfly, which is present all over the year, and breeds in abandoned places in particular, the places which witness deteriorating service conditions and suffer form environmental pollution, as It is noteworthy that many of the villages and towns in the northern countryside of Hama province, live such situations, which made them as a home for this disease, and for the fly that causes it, and the sources added to the Syrian Observatory that the leishmaniasis has stormed the areas stretching from Al-Lataminah town to Kafr Zita to Tal Hawash village, passing through Kafr Nabudah town, Al-Zakah, Latmin, and the villages of Jabal Shashabo in the north, and it started to grow with the beginning of 2018, where the towns and villages adjacent the controlled areas of the regime forces such as Al-Lataminah, Kafr Zita, Latmin and Murak, witnessed in the past years, several waves of displacement, and most of their residents abandoned them, before a little percentage of them returned, after the recent agreement of the demilitarized zone, also these towns suffered from the intense shelling, destruction and the absence of services in them, which participated in increasing the rate of infection after the limited return of these towns’ residents, where in Al-Lataminah town, the Local Council documented more than 320 cases of infection of the leishmaniasis per month, knowing that there are no any hospitals or medical centers that provide medical care in city, and according to medic sources, the treatment is being requested via the medical office in the headquarters of the city’s Local Council, which, in turn, suffers from severe shortage of medical requirements and medicine needed for treating this disease, while a center for treating the leishmaniasis was opened in Murak town in the northern countryside of Hama, on the 4th of May 2018, after the number of residents of the area who has got this disease, have substantially increased, where sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory the existence of hundreds of cases that are infected this disease as a result of the deteriorating service situations in it, and Murak town -where the number of the people who has got the leishmaniasis, rises more than it does in the other areas- is considered a contact point with the controlled areas of the regime forces to the south, while this disease noticeably increases in several towns and villages in the northern countryside of Hama province.
Other medic sources in the northern countryside of Hama, talked to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, about the reasons for this disease and the ways of prevention and treatment, where the medic sources confirmed that the leishmaniasis is a skin infection caused by a parasite that is transmitted by the bite of a sandfly, which is a white little fly, that breeds in abandoned places and the places where a polluted atmosphere prevails and that suffer from lack of services, such as the accumulation of dumps, the emission of stink smells and other reasons, also the towns and villages of the northern countryside of Hama province, in particular those mentioned above, are considered a fertile environment for this fly, whose bite causes the spread of the disease inside the patient rapidly, especially the persons who suffer deficiency of their immune system, as they are more vulnerable to the rapid spread of the disease in their bodies, where the indications of the infection start to appear within days, where red blisters start to appear on specific parts of the patient’s body, in the beginning the blister is relatively small, and after a while it starts to get bigger until it reaches 2 cm, and after several weeks the blisters become aggravated, where a layer of dry pus appears over them, and the disease may take a period of a whole year if it is not treated, and after this year, the marks of these blisters may be still apparent on the body of the patient, so the most appropriate solution for this disease is the immediate start of receiving treatment, and the disease may take, with treatment, a period that reaches 6 months, to completely recover, and the medicine varies between being topical and intramuscular according to the place and duration of infection, and to some other tests and analysis of the patient, the medic sources also added that the hospitals and medical centers in Hama province are suffering from sever shortage of the medical requirements in general, especially in the towns of Al-Lataminah, Kafr, Latmin Zita, Kafr Nabudah, Murak and some other areas, as they are areas subjected to the most violent shelling in the past years, which led to a decline in all sections, including the medical section in particular.
Mohamed Hussein is one of the residents of Al-Lataminah in the northern countryside of Hama province and the householder of a family of 6 members, when he returned recently to the town after the demilitarized zone agreement, and the relative calm in the area, he was shocked as 3 of his children (13 years old, 10 years old, 7 years old) were infected the cutaneous leishmaniasis, where red blisters appeared on their bodies and they, as the children expressed, are painful, at the time when there are no hospitals or health centers in the town, where some doctors and nurses in the town established a medical office within the headquarters of the city’s Local Council, to exert its possible efforts to treat some diseases and emergency relief cases, including the leishmaniasis known as “Habat Halab” and “Habat Al-Sennah”, while other sources in the town clarified to the Syrian Observatory, that despite the poor abilities, the office receives hundreds of cases every month, of course this option was not the most appropriate one, but the expenses of receiving the treatment outside the area seems to be high for some of the residents or most of them, especially since the medical office offers the treatment for free, while the doctors advised the residents especially the patients, no to get close to the dumps or garbage spread everywhere in the streets of the city, which the civil defense tries to remove, they also advised that the houses have to be always sprayed with insecticide, and the people have to keep their body clean by taking showers.
Via the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the locals and medic and service parties in the area, called upon the humanitarian organizations and the medic and relief bodies, to pay attention to service situations and improve them in the city to avoid the infection of more residents, they also added that the duty of the relevant authorities to take actual steps that help in reducing this dangerous disease, such steps can be represents by intensifying the medical care in the northern countryside of Hama province, especially in the towns of Al-Lataminah, Kafr Zita, Murak and other towns that were subjected to intensive shelling previously, in addition to holding awareness sessions aim to raise the awareness among civilians of the seriousness of this disease, its causes and ways of prevention, and these authorities have to do their best to maintain the area within a safe, clean and disease-free environment.