Paris, 1st December 2025
One year after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, the situation of the Syrian healthcare system remains extremely precarious: non-functioning infrastructures or lack of vital equipment, shortage of medicines, difficulties in accessing healthcare…. Against this backdrop, and in the face of humanitarian needs that remain immense, the response from international donors is clearly inadequate. The NGO Mehad condemns this underfunding and warns of the risk of a global collapse of the healthcare system.
In the run-up to 8 December, the first anniversary of the fall of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime in Syria, the international health and solidarity NGO Mehad, originally founded by doctors from the Syrian diaspora in response to the outbreak of war in Syria in 2011, is warning of the worrying state of the country’s healthcare system and health infrastructure, as well as the wait-and-see attitude and inadequate response of international donors to the still immense humanitarian needs in the country.
According to the Syrian Ministry of Health, 30% of hospitals throughout the country are either not functional or only partially functional. In addition, many operating centres lack essential equipment, such as anaesthesia machines, monitors and radiology equipment. “We are also facing critical shortages of cancer drugs (80% of patients have no access to treatment), drugs for chronic diseases and immunotherapy treatments,” says Osamah AlHoussin, Deputy Director of the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre at the Syrian Ministry of Health. “Since the beginning of 2025, the Ministry has been working on a phase of reconstruction, renovation and equipping hospitals and health centres, as well as improving health coverage. However, despite our considerable efforts and the support of our partners, the extent of the accumulated damage remains significant.”
Only 20% of healthcare needs financed
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 7.4 million Syrians have already seen their access to medicines and treatment reduced in recent months. “The situation on the ground is catastrophic,” laments Ziad Alissa, co-founder and chairman of Mehad and a doctor specialising in anaesthesia and intensive care. “Syrians who return to their home towns and villages often find nothing but ruins. When hospitals are still in operation, they are short of staff, equipment and consumables, and face frequent power cuts.
In the face of these humanitarian needs, which remain immense for health in Syria, the response from international funders is clearly inadequate. In October, the WHO reported that only 20% of the health cluster’s needs, estimated at $565 million, had been received by 2025. “The needs are going to remain very great for several years at least,” says Mego Terzian, CEO of Mehad and former President of MSF France. “But the lack of funding, which has been considerably exacerbated by the sudden end of funding from USAID, the US development agency, was already being felt by European governments for at least two years.
Since the beginning of 2025, Mehad has had to close 3 dialysis centres in the north-east, the only ones still operational in the entire region, 4 of which had already had to cease operations in previous months due to a lack of funding. This is also the case for 4 mother and child centres in the north-west (sexual and reproductive health services, maternity, paediatrics, nutrition, protection), and 5 primary care centres. “The budget for our Syria mission, which was €13 million in 2023, has fallen to €9 million in 2024, and barely €5 million for 2025,” points out Mego Terzian. “Without massive and rapid support, the Syrian healthcare system is at risk of global collapse.”
