A key component of SAMS’ psychosocial support (PSS) programming is its educational workshops, which raise public awareness on a variety of mental health issues and how they intersect with social and interpersonal dynamics within a community. For many beneficiaries who attend these programs, what they learn can help them to...
The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is an annual international campaign to raise public awareness and call for the prevention and elimination of all forms of GBV. The theme of this year’s campaign is “Orange the World: Generation Equality Stands Against Rape.” As part of this joint...
One of the main challenges in psychosocial support provision and increasing its access among refugee populations is the ability to seek out cases that require special care and attention. In a recent field survey we conducted in Jordan, we discovered a number of cases located in areas that are difficult...
The humanitarian situation in northwest Syria remains dire. Since the latest escalation of violence began on April 26th, 2019, at least 600,000 civilians have been displaced, many of whom have already been forced to relocate multiple times. Over 1,000 civilians have been killed, many of whom were women and children....
I stood in clinic examining an 8 year old boy with bacterial tonsillitis. My focus was on the back of his throat when I heard the desperate screams emerge from the waiting room. I tried to ignore them at first. But they were piercing shrieks and they weren’t going to...
There have been a lot of conversations around refugees, everywhere in the world. We’ve heard heated debates and discussions with a sense of panic. These rhetoric have been based on fearmongering, fueled with xenophobic ideas and social profiling. Let’s all “change places“ and put ourselves in the situation of refugees,...
While many emergency and humanitarian services look to provide primary care for refugees, very few include aspects essential to women’s health. Conflicts often disrupt access to essential services, and prolonged emergencies further weaken a country’s health system. In times of conflict, women disproportionately suffer the effects of disrupted health systems,...
Women and children are the most affected demographic in any crisis and often experience the brunt of poor health outcomes. Gender-based violence, early marriage, poor maternal care, and lack of access to reproductive health services affect millions of women caught in conflict. Reproductive health includes a broad range of topics...
“All I hope for is to recover and go back to my home and my children, to care for them until they grow up and be able to look after themselves.” Anwar Mohammed Aqla, 28, a Syrian refugee from Dara’a, currently lives in Al-Za’atari Refugee Camp with her husband and...
The psychosocial impacts of being a refugee are so widespread, they have reached epidemic proportions. Unfortunately, however, mental health for Syrians and other refugees still fails to receive the same recognition or aid that physical epidemics, such as viral diseases, do. The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) is dedicated to...
Haneen is a 12-year-old patient at a SAMS-supported dialysis center in Lebanon. Her journey started 6 months ago when high blood pressure led to the failure of one of her kidneys. While other youth her age are returning to school, Haneen must undergo dialysis treatment twice a week. Haneen is...
Attacks on medical facilities are a violation of international humanitarian law. Unfortunately, that has not deterred armed forces from systematically and deliberately attacking health centers in Syria. Between 2011 and 2017, there were 492 attacks on healthcare in Syria, killing 847 medical personnel. From January to July, 2018, another 119...
