As a continuation of the series of meetings held by Idlib Health Directorate with health facilities as a result of the reduction in international support for the health sector and its effects in NW region of Syria, Dr. Zuhair Al-karrat, Idlib Health Director, and Dr. Hossam Qara Muhammad, Assistant Director of Health, met with the directors of primary health care centers, to discuss the reality of the decline in support for the health centers, and coming up with proposals that help mitigate the disastrous effects resulting from this.

The attendees came up with several proposals that constitute a working map for the coming period, the most prominent of which are: Integrating the services of health centers close to each other, scheduling medical services in the center according to priority so that available support is directed to cover services according to priority, rescheduling salaries, activating the role of the local community in supporting primary health care centers through donations, unifying treatment protocols in all centers and tightening  In implementing it to reduce the waste of medicines, implementing a two-day holiday a week to reduce operational costs and material consumption, proposing the possibility of applying telemedicine services in clinics that do not require a clinical examination to reduce primary care costs, setting a priority for distribution medicines so that this is limited to medications for chronic diseases.  New graduates should be used to serve in the centers to cover the gap if support stops. Automating work in the centers to reduce the consumption of paper, printers, etc., and the possibility of imposing nominal fees for non-ambulatory services.

Notably, international grants funded for the region's health sector have decreased by 30-60 percent. The number of health centers for which support has stopped or will stop until the end of this current month of June in Idlib Governorate is 22 centers, and this number will rise at the end of the year to 95 centers in light of the lack of support to operate of these centers. In the same context, the Director of Health had previously met with representatives of humanitarian organizations concerned with the health sector, hospital directors in Idlib Governorate, and delegations from the Cluster Group in Gaziantep and the World Health Organization.