Syrian regime has prevented medication supplies to the National Hospital of Hasaka after controlling it by the Democratic Union Party which invested it to obtain money from patients for the service it provided to them.
Sources close to Hasaka Governor, Jayez al-Moosa reported that the decision of closing the national Hospital of Hasaka is about to be implemented as the governor has order to stop supplying the hospital with fuel, because it became out of the Syrian regime’s control, in order to harden the work in the hospital, as the Democratic Union Party has not abide by the agreement of keeping hospitals away from fighting.
The decision of closing the hospital, according to sources is officially covered by the Ministry of Health, and many security officials in the capital, which was initiated by a suggestion of the Director of Health Directorate in Hasaka, Mohammed Rashad al-Khalaf.
A nurse works on the hospital reported to Zaman al-Wasl that members of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) have seized the hospital and dismissed everyone including patients, among then there was an old woman with wide burn, who was forced out of the hospital after charging her of the price of dressing.
The nurse declared that the hospital was still working, but all medications are brought by patients.
In a relevant content, activist s reported that the regime Ministry of health has deprived the trainee Doctor Adel Abdullah who works in al-Malikiyah hospital of the exam and threatened him of arrest because he performed a caesarean section for a woman and charged her for the operation.
Activists mentioned that PYD’s members have seized all out-patients clinics in the National Hospital of Ras al-Ain and turned it into a hospital under its control and deactivated all all other part s of the hospital.
People in Hasaka suffer of soaring prices of medications an treatment in private hospitals, according to many sources, one of them a man works in a private hospital who detailed that procedure in private hospitals have become extremely higher than people’s ability to cover, for example, a blood sugar test raised from S.P 50 to S.P600, while other blood tests reach to S.P 2500, and the charge for a doctor visit is at least S.P 2000, and the surgical operation cost starts from S.P 70, 000.
Hasaka governor had in the beginning of this year reached to an agreement with officials of the PYD to keep the hospital away from conflict and keeping it operation on condition to evacuate it from all PYD’s members and stay outside and provide medical treatment to regime’s members when need.
However, PYD’s members had not abid by the agreement and only declared their intention to leave the hospital. But stayed in surrounding buildings like doctors’ accommodation, garage, and medical committee building, which forced the governor to reduce the fuel allocated to the hospital, and earlier reduced materials needed for renal dialysis and laboratory, by which the hospital became working in less than 20% of its capacity.
The National hospital in Hasaka in the only one to provide free medical care for residents and cover wide area of the city and countryside, beside helping dozens of thousands of displaced people, either Syrians or Iraqis. Being out of service is considered a disaster to people who live in a city with already scarced medical services. But the hospital still provide treatment to most cases of burns, wound, urgent operation and delivery, besides dialysis.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) had reported that the Health Coordinator in the World Health Organisation (WHO) had last Tuesday told the governor of Hasaka that the organisation would work on covering the hospital needs for medication for a period of 6 months, and they would try to deliver then by air, in order to provide health care to residents and displaced people wh came recently to the city.
The national Hospital of Hasaka has stopped operation during the clashed between the Syrian regime and PYD’s fighters in August 2016, when the head of Asayish, the Security wing of PYD had looted most of the hospital equipments and medication, but it was reactivated again, but not as good as before.
Before controlling the hospital by PYD, it was controlled by many forces, Asayish controlled the burns department in the third floor, which was the only centre to provide medical care for patients with burns in the city, the Self defense forces controlled the Surgical department, while Sotoro militias controlled the Internal Medicine department, and People’s Protection Units (YPG) controlled the main entrance, the blood bank, Nursing school and police station