Yekiti Media
The city of Derik and its surrounding countryside are facing a clear shortfall in the health sector due to the lack of specialist hospitals capable of meeting residents’ growing needs for diagnostic tests and complex medical procedures.
The city’s medical landscape is currently limited to just two hospitals, both of which are restricted to performing a limited number of basic surgical procedures.
In this context, Reber, a resident of the city, reported that the National Hospital provides services described as ‘good’ due to the diversity of its medical departments, including the availability of a dedicated intensive care unit; however, these remain insufficient to cover critical and specialist cases.
This acute shortage has prompted many residents of Derik and its surrounding countryside to seek treatment at hospitals in the neighbouring town of ‘Garki Lagi’, which has seen remarkable development in the medical sector; particularly in the fields of cardiac catheterisation, stent placement and CT scans, as well as attracting doctors from various medical specialisms.
Meanwhile, another group of patients prefers to endure the hardship of travelling to hospitals in the city of Qamishli, or to the capital Damascus, in search of advanced medical care and major surgical procedures that are not available in their region.
The medical hardships in Derik are part of a wider health crisis affecting the region’s cities and towns; a few days ago, “Yekiti Media” documented a similar situation a few days ago in the town of Al-Darbasiyah, which suffers from a complete lack of hospitals and specialist medical centres, forcing its residents to undertake arduous journeys to the cities of Amuda and Qamishli to receive basic medical services and emergency surgical care.