Saudi Gazette report

DAMASCUS — A Saudi delegation from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) visited a number of major hospitals in Syria, accompanied by officials from the Syrian Ministry of Health, in order to learn about the basic needs of the hospitals.

The KSrelief delegation met on Sunday with officials from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Damascus. The meeting was also attended by Chargé d’Affaires of the Kingdom’s Embassy in Syria Abdullah bin Saleh Al-Harees.

The discussions centered on shared priorities in relief and humanitarian efforts, with a focus on strategies to enhance support and assistance for the Syrian people.

UNHCR officials praised the strategic partnership between KSrelief and UNHCR, emphasizing their collaborative efforts to support refugees and displaced individuals worldwide, ensuring they have access to a dignified life.

The Saudi delegation's hospital tour follows a meeting with Syrian Health Minister Maher Al-Sharaa in Damascus to discuss ways to enhance humanitarian and medical cooperation.

During the meeting, both sides discussed setting priorities to support the medical sector and achieving health equity for all Syrian citizens. They agreed on field visits for the delegation to hospitals in Syria to assess the basic needs and work to secure them.

Al-Sharaa acknowledged significant challenges for the health sector due to the corruption and nepotism during the former regime. It comes as the new Syrian administration, led by Ahmed Al-Sharaa, focuses on rehabilitating infrastructure including the health sector, which was severely damaged during the civil war against the ousted Bashar al-Assad regime.

The visit of the Saudi team coincides with the dispatch of relief planes and first convoy of the Saudi relief land bridge as part of the Kingdom's efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people in the war-ravaged country. The sixth relief plane arrived at Damascus International Airport on Sunday as part of the Saudi air bridge, carrying food, shelter and medical supplies. Sixty trucks crossed through the Jaber Border Crossing of Jordan, marking the first convoy of the Saudi relief land bridge.

Meanwhile, KSrelief announced the opening of the door to volunteering with specialized Saudi medical expertise to support the health sector in Syria and meet its urgent needs in more than 20 specialties, through the Saudi Voluntary Program for Syrians AMAL, which is meant to meet the needs of the health sector in affected countries.

The program aims to support the Kingdom’s humanitarian efforts by providing critical emergency and medical services to Syrians in need. Registration is available through the following link: https://volunteer.ksrelief.org/CRM_Campaigns/CampaignsDetails/e02bdcf5-262c-44ca-b080-045c9ca21f2e

The KSrelief called on all specialists wishing to volunteer their expertise to register in the AMAL program, which lasts for a full year to support the Syrian health sector that was damaged during the civil war, and to provide emergency and medical services to those in need in various specialties, to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people through the contribution of volunteers in the program.

The specializations of the volunteer cadres required to join include pediatric surgery, plastic surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, general surgery, emergency medicine, psychological support, orthopedics, internal medicine, open heart surgery and catheterization, kidney diseases, general medicine, chest medicine, pediatrics, anesthesia, nursing, family medicine, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, prosthetics, cochlear implants, and a number of other medical specialties.

KSrelief Spokesperson Dr. Samer Al-Jatili said that the external volunteering platform launched by the center provides an opportunity to register in a number of urgent medical specialties to support the health sector in a number of Syrian cities, especially during the current humanitarian crisis in Syria.

Al-Jatili said that the list of required specialties was determined after communicating with the responsible health authorities in Syria. "The program aims to provide an opportunity for Saudi volunteers in the health sector to meet the needs of the Syrian health sector in all regions of the country," he said while lauding the efforts of Saudi health cadres, who volunteered their expertise and contributions through the program. “Saudi volunteers in the health sector have recorded a distinguished international presence, through many incidents in which they took the initiative to provide aid and assistance to people in different geographical areas, and they had a good impact in about 57 countries around the world, and performed more than 200,000 operations in various specialties.”

Al-Jatili pointed out that the experience accumulated by the program will contribute to extending a helping hand to the Syrian side, which is suffering from difficulties during this stage, and in saving the lives of many Syrians through various forms of medical care that the program will provide in the coming period.

The KSrelief said that the Amal program is being launched under the directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, and in recognition of Saudi Arabia's charitable, humanitarian and pioneering role towards affected communities around the world.