Aleppo residents complain about the dire condition of public hospitals: infrastructure has been destroyed, equipment is worn out, and medical staff work under enormous pressure. Private clinics have become a luxury beyond the reach of most families. Even dedicated doctors cannot make up for the lack of basic supplies and proper treatment conditions.
Many link these problems to the legacy of the fallen regime. Hospitals that people call “slaughterhouses” rather than places of healing were used for repression and humiliation, and human rights violations were documented there. Restoring trust and ensuring decent medical care require profound changes, not merely cosmetic repairs.
The hospital that causes residents particular distress is Al-Razi, named after the renowned Arab physician. It is primarily associated with burns and fractures. People describe overcrowded wards, a tense atmosphere, and a lack of equipment, with patients treated by young residents without an experienced specialist permanently present. Mohammed recalls how his daughter suffered severe burns: he could not even obtain a wheelchair—the one offered had no wheels; staff said the elevator “might work, or it might not,” and there was only one nurse in the burns unit.
Another story concerns Qadriya, whose broken arm was improperly put in a cast at the hospital. She later had to have the arm broken and treated again. “There was neither comfort nor attention to patients in the hospital, especially on the upper floors,” she says. At Aleppo University Hospital, a resident in pediatric surgery complains about poor instrument sterilization, which causes many patients to develop postoperative infections. A shortage of disinfectants and some doctors’ failure to follow procedures hinder recovery.
According to the same staff member, medicines are constantly in short supply: “For a month, we did not receive even paracetamol.” Even basic materials, such as surgical sutures, are often brought by patients’ relatives. This places an additional burden on families amid rising prices and the unaffordability of private treatment. Staff at Zahi Azraq Hospital also report poor sterilization, acute shortages of medicines, consumables, and equipment, as well as daily confusion and overcrowding that interfere with their work.
A resident at Zahi Azraq says equipment has to be shared between departments. For example, a defibrillator is moved from the intensive care unit to the emergency department when a patient’s heart stops—a direct threat to life. Such examples show the pressure on medical workers when even minimally safe conditions are absent. Aleppo Health Director Mohammed al-Hajj Mustafa said on the Voice of Aleppo program that, after the previous decline, public hospitals are now being repaired and modernized.
He noted that work is under way in the intensive care and operating units at Al-Razi, a new emergency department is being established, and new projects are being prepared in Aleppo province. The Hospital Administration conducts regular inspections of public and private clinics, as well as medical centers. However, healthcare remains part of the devastation inherited from the Assad regime. Hospital reconstruction is continuing, but order, public outreach, and respect for doctors are no less important: a safe and calm environment also depends on citizens’ understanding of the current difficulties. Fair access to basic healthcare for all Syrians is a humanitarian priority that cannot be postponed; if everyone fulfills their role, the crisis facing public hospitals may become a thing of the past.
News Comments
Who was Al-Razi, after whom Al-Razi Hospital in Aleppo is named, and why is his name considered important to Arab medicine? — Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (865–925), known in the West as Rhazes, was a Persian scholar, physician, alchemist, and philosopher. He was born in Rayy (Iran) and worked in Baghdad and other cities. His name is important in Arab medicine because he wrote Kitab al-Hawi (The Comprehensive Book of Medicine), one of the earliest medical encyclopedias, as well as Kitab al-Mansuri. He was the first to provide clinical descriptions of smallpox and measles and to distinguish between them. He also studied hygiene, diet, and mental health. His works were translated into Latin and remained standard textbooks in Europe and the Islamic world for centuries.
What is the “Voice of Aleppo” program, and what role does it play in covering Aleppo’s problems? — Voice of Aleppo is an independent media initiative—a radio and online platform—created to cover life, problems, and the humanitarian situation in Aleppo. It gives local residents an opportunity to speak about their needs, documents violations, and disseminates information about humanitarian crises, destruction, shortages of medicines and food, and the fate of displaced people. Its role is to give Aleppo residents a voice, draw the attention of the international community and the media to their problems, and help facilitate assistance.
How exactly were Syria’s public hospitals used by the security services and military for repression and humiliation under the Assad regime? — According to numerous reports by human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Syrian Network for Human Rights, Syria’s public and military hospitals became instruments of repression under the Assad regime. Wounded protesters brought to hospitals were interrogated, arrested, and often tortured in the wards by security service personnel. Doctors and nurses were forced to provide the names and details of patients with gunshot wounds, leading to arrests. Military hospitals were used to detain people, where humiliation, beatings, and torture were carried out and medical care was withheld. Hospitals became an extension of the repressive apparatus: medical neutrality was violated, while opposition-minded patients were denied treatment or handed over to the security forces. This was used to suppress protests and intimidate the population.
Full version: Aleppo’s public hospitals: A crisis seeking treatment