Damascus govt prevents entry of medicines into Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh

For 6 years, the Damascus government has besieged the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in the city of Aleppo. This siege reached its peak in the last two years including fuel and basic foodstuffs, and medicine.

Sources from the Pharmacists Union in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods said that the security branches prevent the entry of medicines into Sheikh Maqsoud, and if they allow it, it will be in exchange for huge sums of money.

There are 61 pharmacies in the two neighborhoods, serving about 200,000 people. The neighborhood's need is estimated at about 3 billion Syrian pounds for medicines per month, according to the Pharmacists Union.

The same sources in the Pharmacists Union state that the checkpoints of the Damascus government forces permit small quantities of medicines, but they impose royalties amounting to about 10 percent of the value of the total bill.

Pharmacies in Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud are almost emptied of treatments for diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer.

The prices of cancer treatments start from one million liras up to 20 million liras for some chemical doses. These prices are not compatible with the purchasing power of the vast majority of residents in the two neighborhoods, especially since quite a few of them are displaced from the occupied Afrin or from neighboring neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo.

a.k

ANHA