For Immediate Release
January 8, 2016
Washington, DC – Civilians in the besieged town of Madaya are suffering from staggering levels of need. Up to 40,000 civilians are starving, forced to resort to eating plants, insects, and even cats to survive. SAMS’s latest report, Madaya: Starvation Under Siege, underscores the horrors that civilians are experiencing in besieged Madaya, and the need for consistent and sustained humanitarian access to the town.The report charts the deaths of 31 civilians in Madaya during December 2015 from starvation, landmine injuries, and sniper injuries, and gives an overview of the one medical clinic in Madaya. The clinic sees around 300 patients a day, over half of them children under the age of 10, with the majority exhibiting malnourishment and symptoms of protein impairment diseases. There is severe shortage of medical supplies in the clinic and no specialized surgeons, baby milk, vaccinations, antibiotics, anesthesia medications, or oxygen.
SAMS Board Member Dr. Ammar Ghanem said about the medical situation in Madaya, “They have no supplies, and no training – one of their only doctors is a veterinarian who is now operating on humans.” Dr. Khaled, a medical practitioner in Madaya, said, “What is needed is international pressure to unlock this siege on Madaya and allow in humanitarian assistance and open a humanitarian path to move out the patients to be treated in central hospitals. Through this siege we have exhausted all supplies in the hospital, from medicine to daily necessities.”
For press inquiries or to set up an interview with a medical practitioner inside of Syria, please contact Kat Fallon, SAMS’s Advocacy & Communications Manager, at kathleen.fallon@sams-usa.net or 202-854-1394.
