The painful humanitarian scenes that Syrians are experiencing become usual ; as if they are meant to live in deprivation of the most simplest basic necessities for living. Luxury is now something they have forgotten in a life filled with suffering and pain where they daily ask” what is the exchange rate of the Syrian pound to US dollar… is it still the same ?.. what about the prices, are they affected?… Is medicine available in pharmacies or missed?
War has become the reason of ruining most understructures and the low rate of exchanging Syrian pound to US dollar which in turn affects the prices of all products and basic supplies that are important in main industries including Pharmaceutical one where finding medicine becomes a difficult matter for whom suffer from Chronic diseases such as heart diseases, pressure diseases and diabetes who need to be on medication on regular basis.
Citizens in regime-held territories wonder ” why most pharmacies are closed? and what is the reason that so many medication are not available?”. This arises fear and concern in them particularly in Damascus city. A pharmacist from the city who refused to mention his name fearing to be arrested by regime forces, informed us: ” for more than two months I have not been able to bring medicine from pharmaceutical manufactures so that my drugstore is almost empty , the thing forced me to shut it and stay at home without work”.
He proceeded: “despite that pharmacy is a humanitarian career in the first place, there are some greedy people who use it taking advantage of monopolizing medicine to sell it later with double prices. They open their drugstores for few hours may be not more than three hours a day selling medicine that is available in most pharmacies and hiding the missed one. ”
Probably the main reason why some medication is unavailable is that Pharmaceutical manufacturing are unable to find the imported basic materials and that central bank being incapable to support manufacturing with currency to buy which force them to buy dollar from the black market with high prices. These factories complained to specialized authorities urging them to increase the prieces considering that basic supplies are bought with dollar.
Amar from Damascus city narrated to us his suffering finding medicine :” My father suffer from heart disease who need to take pills daily. I could not find that medicine in all drugstores in Damascus but for one where the pharmacist felt sorry for my suffering searching for medicine more than for my ill father ,giving me four boxes of the medicine with doubled prices. He was humanitarian for selling me four boxes although they were with doubled prices. We are living in a time we fear illness because we will not find medicine in pharmacies.”
War, destruction, besieged territories , without bread , without source of living , and without medicine , that is who the Syrian citizens are living but they are still hanging on refusing to seek asylum, how long this suffering will continue?
By Samah Khaled
Translated by Sabah Najem
#Syrian_Press_Center
Syrian Citizen Suffering.. Searching For Medicine
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