Syria Improving health care

    Syria’s health sector has been considerably impacted by the civil war in Syria. Hospitals were sometimes targeted in air strikes, health workers fled the country and life-saving equipment fell into disrepair. The earthquake in the north-west of the country on 6 February 2023 wrought additional heavy damage on health infrastructure.

    The BMZ is supporting efforts to maintain a basic level of medical care in Syria. In northern Syria the BMZ is funding the salaries of more than 1,000 doctors and workers in the health sector, in order to keep hospitals running. Furthermore, Germany is supporting on-the-job training for specialist physicians, psychosocial counsellors and also midwives. This support is saving lives: the maternity clinic and neonatal unit in Raqqa, for example, is the only one in the whole north-eastern part of Syria. The running of this hospital is being financed with BMZ funding.

    Even before the Assad regime fell, the BMZ was also already supporting Syrian communities where internally displaced persons had found refuge by means of its Special Initiative “Displaced Persons and Host Countries”, including via activities in the health sector. Through the payment of salaries in the health sector, BMZ funds have been used to improve access to medical care and to psychosocial support for more than one million people.


    As at: 10/01/2025