HELP SAVE THE DESPERATE CHILDREN OF SYRIA Cancer kids left to die in Aleppo
THESE are war-torn Aleppo’s cancer children who seem condemned to death – as life-saving drugs run dry.
Yet they smile bravely in the face of their illnesses and the horrors relentlessly rained down on them by Russian and Syrian war planes.
The world is aware of the horrific bombardment of eastern Aleppo.
Next Saturday 14 prominent charities will protest at Downing Street to demand Britain tries to halt the slaughter of Syrian children.
But how Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad assault on rebel-held districts can be stopped is still unclear.
Bombardment
Some MPs urge the Government to consider establishing a no-fly zone over the stricken city – but then Western powers must be prepared to oppose Russian and Syrian planes.
While politicians wring their hands and dither, charities claim the besieged areas will run out of food by next month.
And it is children such as eightyear- old Mouhammed who are paying the price.
He is one of the cancer patients in the Aleppo University Hospital Hospital’ss 14- bed ward, , the city’s only paediatric oncologyology ward.
Here desperate perate medics struggle to provide ovide the most basic care. Smugglersmugglers risk their lives to bring chemotherapy drugs while the black market forces up prices.
Poverty-stricken cken families who have lost everything erything in the bombardment can’t afford to save their children. dren. And doctors depriveded of drugs can provide only sporadic courses of chemotherapy.
Mouhammed has no idea if his four brothers, left in the care of neighbours, are still alive or not.
His dad left home three years ago and has not been seen since.
When in hospital he sleeps sideby-side with his little sister, Azizah, who wanders the corridors singing to patients with appalling injuries
Unicef’s Basma Ourfali said: “With nowhere to go between treatments Mouhammed and his mother lived in a tent. “Dire living conditions and poor hygiene caused his health to decline rapidly.”
There are dozens of children across Aleppo with little hope of survival as cancer riddles their bodies.
Dr Hiba, head of the oncology ward, said: “As a result of sanctions we are unable to bring in drugs for children with cancer.
“We used to provide them free but now there is only one children’s hospital in the Aleppo Governorate that can give treatment without charging for it.
“The only other place to get hold of medication is the black market and most families can’t afford the high prices. Children are left as a result without treatment and are unlikely to recover. The challenges are endless. Families need a place to stay during treatment. Children need medicine and proper food.
“The hospital doesn’t provide them with enough food and their families can’t afford the medicines or a place to stay.”
Huda, the head nurse on the oncology ward, claims a dad facing a dangerous journey taking his sick daughter back to their village opted instead to live with her in a car for more than ten days.
Meanwhile in the besieged city Madaya, 250 miles south on the Lebanon border, there is a deepening crisis with malnourished women lacking the strength to give birth.
Starvation, drought and lack of medicine take their toll and levels of miscarriages and complications with pregnancy have rocketed.
Unicef’s Deputy Representative for Syria Mirna Yacoub said: “Almost everyone we spoke to asked for protein – meat, eggs, milk, vegetables – something more to sustain themselves than the dry goods that were available. The doctor reported an increase in miscarriages, ten cases in the last six months, because of the nutritional status of mothers.
“Over the last year alone, he has had to perform over 60 caesareans. This number was unheard of before the crisis.
“But women no longer have the strength for childbirth, and many pregnancies go over term, due to the poor health of pregnant women.”
Women are also suffering the psychological trauma of war.
Doctors in Madaya have reported 12 cases of attempted suicide, eight of them women, with many seeing “death as the only way out”.
Violence
Recounting the harrowing stories, Mirna said: “A mother of five felt she could no longer feed and care for her kids. And there was a high school student who wasn’t allowed to leave Madaya to take his exams.”
Others who wanted to end it all were a 21-year-old newlywed whose husband died in the violence and girl of 16 who saw no future for herself.
Mirna said: “All of them tried to take their own lives – a last resort – the only possible escape from their daily horror.”
Medics l ack basic medical provisions. Doctors have used hair gel for ultrasounds and fire to sterilize equipment, lacking alcohol.
Actor and Unicef UK ambassador Michael Sheen said: “It’s heartbreaking. Millions of Syrian children have known nothing but war, death and destruction their entire lives.
“I know the British public care deeply about what is happening in Syria and we must push our leaders to explore all options for a peaceful solution. Next Saturday is a chance to show how important this is.”
“Children in Syria can’t wait. We must also help organisations like Unicef protect and provide for these children in their hour of need.”