Syria: MSF opens emergency room in Damascus suburb

Glaring scars of war

“Almost everywhere our teams have visited, the scars of war are evident—[with] entire neighborhoods destroyed,” says Mostafa Khatab, MSF project coordinator for Damascus. “Daraya, a suburb in the outskirts of the city, stood out in particular. Large-scale destruction, entire areas flattened—yet, people are coming back, determined to rebuild their lives.” 

After the government of Bashar Al-Assad collapsed in December 2024, thousands of people have returned to their homes, but they face massive challenges, says Khatab, including job shortages, economic struggles, land contaminated from leftover weapons and explosives, and a lack of access to clean water and health care services. 

“Daraya’s hospital, for example, was heavily damaged, and restoring it would require significant investment—something unlikely to happen in the near future,” Khatab says. “This means that the only real option for emergency and secondary medical care is in Damascus city center, where services are already under significant strain. The only functioning health center in Daraya operates at a very limited capacity, offering just vaccinations, malnutrition treatment, and basic medications for chronic diseases.”

A turning point in health care access

MSF started running activities in Daraya in March in partnership with the Directorate of Health. After renovating the health center, the team is providing basic health care, including outpatient consultations, mental health care, and sexual and reproductive health care, led by a doctor and a midwife. MSF and the Directorate of Health have also opened a 24/7 emergency room to provide urgent basic care for people with trauma injuries, and have established a referral system to hospitals in Damascus for patients needing more specialist care. As in all of MSF’s projects, all services are free of charge.

The number of consultations at the health center has increased steadily, with over 1,000 patients treated in the outpatient services since MSF started supporting in March. More and more patients are coming for sexual and reproductive health care—services which were previously very limited in Daraya. 

At the emergency room, the medical team has provided 308 consultations and referred 24 patients for specialist care in just two weeks.

“The opening of Daraya emergency room clearly marks a decisive turning point in access to health care for the people of Daraya,” says MSF medical referent Jethro Guerina. “I witnessed one father shedding tears of relief after his 10-year-old son received six stitches following an accident when the medical team told him he didn't have to pay money for treatment,” Guerina recalls. “He told me, ‘I have no memory of ever not having to pay for treatment.’”