The World Health Organization said Wednesday it was taking advantage of a post-earthquake pause in sanctions to move badly needed health supplies and equipment into war-torn Syria.
The WHO said it was capitalising on the chance brought about by the suspending of sanctions to carry out some rapid procurement and revitalise Syria’s shattered health services.
The UN health agency called on Syria’s warring factions to see the earthquake as an opportunity to end the civil war for good.
The massive 7.8-magnitude tremor on February 6 has killed more than 42,000 people in Turkey and more than 3,600 in Syria, while the WHO said more than 125,000 have been injured.
Damascus has been hit by more than a decade of economic sanctions, and while they were not designed to impede aid, they were blamed by some for the slow arrival of assistance after the quake.
The United States has since temporarily lifted some sanctions, hoping to ensure that aid moves as quickly as possible to those affected.
“WHO is moving very rapidly right now, together with our partners, to take advantage of this pause in the sanctions,” Richard Brennan, the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean regional emergency director, told a press conference.
“We have already started ordering equipment and supplies and we are working with UN partners on a collective approach to take advantage of the pause,” he said from Gaziantep in southern Turkey, having returned from northern Syria.
Medicines, vaccines, X-ray machines and surgical tools were needed, he added.
“We will be moving very rapidly to do the procurement, capitalising on this important opportunity that we have.”
