On 6 February, the most devastating earthquake in the region hit southern Turkey and north-western Syria. Mehad, which has been present in Syria since 2011, coordinated with local players and reacted urgently to offer a response to the communities affected by the earthquake. Here’s a look back at our work with disaster victims in Syria in February 2023.
The figures tell an alarming story. 50,000 people died, including 6,032 in Syria and 44,218 in Turkey. There have been 12,400 injuries in north-west Syria (Idleb and Aleppo). The destruction is massive. 9,600 buildings destroyed or partially destroyed in Syria, and 164,321 buildings destroyed or partially destroyed in Turkey.
Focus on health
Our action has focused on health and the basic needs of disaster victims:
- Cold weather kits
- Food kits
- Psychological first aid
- Medical consultations in 3 mobile clinics
The basics: food and heating
From the very first hours of the earthquake, the urgent need was to support the homeless by providing them with blankets, heating equipment and food kits for their daily survival. As the earthquake took place in the middle of winter, the cold was a real risk for the population.
Mobile clinics
Mobile clinics are an essential part of our health programmes in Syria. They provide local, cross-sector access to healthcare. They are part of our primary healthcare cluster, alongside primary healthcare centres in towns and community healthcare with mobile prevention and awareness teams.
Responding to the massive population movements caused by the war in Syria, they were able to provide access to emergency care for disaster victims who were not being cared for by hospitals, and to monitor the injured.
A mobile clinic consists of :
– A team of at least 3 carers: a general practitioner, a nurse and a midwife
– An average of 2,000 consultations per month
– 99% of beneficiaries are internally displaced persons
– 70% of beneficiaries are women and children
Psychological support
Since the earthquake, we have had many people returning to Turkey and Syria suffering from “post-traumatic stress”, characterised by various symptoms:
– intrusion symptoms (flashbacks, nightmares, etc.)
– Avoidance behaviours (of objects, situations, people, thoughts, etc.)
– Hyper-reactivity (hypervigilance, jumpiness, sleep disturbances, appetite problems, angry outbursts, irritability, being on edge)
– Altered cognition and mood (depression, emotional anaesthesia, inability to experience positive emotions, negative cognitions about others, oneself and the world, with feelings of guilt, self-deprecation, no longer belonging to a group, etc).
In a humanitarian disaster or emergency situation, the first response from family members and professionals is to listen. Mehad, through its psychological health workers and carers, accompanies, secures and identifies with people the care pathways for the treatment of psychotrauma according to the severity of the PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and according to the groups most at risk: children, isolated women, the elderly, etc.
Over the long term, Mehad’s teams will work with primary health centres, mobile clinics and community health teams to organise medical and psychological support for disaster victims.
Priority needs
“After this initial emergency response by our teams in February 2023, Mehad is working on a medium- and long-term health response for the victims.
Dr Ziad Alissa, President of Mehad
The 6 priority needs identified by the Mehad teams:
1. Shelter: tents with insulation, mattresses and blankets, heating materials, etc.
2. Strengthening the health system: primary health centres, mobile clinics, etc.
3. Food kits
4. Support for hospitals: purchase of medical equipment
5. psychological support and mental health
6. water, sanitation and hygiene: installation of water tanks and sanitary facilities
