Syrian Health Minister Maher al- Hussami on Sunday criticized the negligence of the international community in providing aid to the increasing numbers of Iraqi refugees which has inflicted a huge health care burden.
The international community was "dragging its feet in providing aid to the Iraqis in the neighboring countries," al-Hussami complained at a ministerial conference opened here earlier in the day to discuss the health needs of the more than 2 million Iraqi refugees who fled their war-torn country.
Syria would not hesitate to provide health care to the Iraqi refugees despite all the difficulties, he said.
The two-day meeting, organized by the World Health Organization (WHO), gathered health ministers from Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq as well as representatives from related UN organizations.
WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Hussein A. Gezairy expressed deep concern over the current Iraqi refugee issue, saying the conference was to find the best ways to assist the host countries and their health services which are under high pressure.
More than 1 million Iraqis were displaced internally while over 2 million had to flee to Syria, Jordan and other neighbors with an estimated 60,000 Iraqi fleeing the country monthly, he noted.
For their part, representatives of WHO and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stressed the necessity to develop coordination mechanisms for providing health and medical care to the Iraqi refugees besides aid to the host countries.
More than 1.5 million Iraqi refugees have fled to Syria and some 750,000 to Jordan and 200,000 to both Egypt and Lebanon due to the turmoil in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
Source: Xinhua
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