New multispecialty medical centre inaugurated at Zaatari camp

AMMAN — Deputising for HRH Princess Muna, Minister of Health Mahmoud Sheyyab on Wednesday inaugurated the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) new multispecialty medical centre at Zaatari refugee camp, a SAMS statement said.

With this new enterprise, SAMS, a leading medical relief organisation with offices in the US, Syria and its neighbouring countries, in addition to Greece, provides dignified and high-quality healthcare to refugees living in the camp.

SAMS President Ahmad Tarakji and SAMS Foundation Chairman Amjad Rass, attended the opening ceremony at Zaatari Camp, highlighting SAMS’s role in providing healthcare to refugees living inside and outside the camp. 

The SAMS multi-specialty medical centre will address the vast and urgent health care needs of 80,000 refugees currently living in Zaatari camp, the world’s largest Syrian refugee camp, according to the statement. 

Many refugees in the camp suffer from chronic and communicable illnesses and emotional trauma that have gone untreated due to a lack of consistent, specialised medical services. The new medical centre is expected to provide 7,700 medical services per month, treating up to 350 patients on a daily basis, in various areas of specialty care, including cardiology, neurology, paediatrics, gynaecology, dental and orthopedics, as well as those pertaining to primary and preventative care. 

At the front lines of crisis relief in Syria and its neighbouring countries since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011, SAMS has provided medical services in Zaatari for over three years, regularly heading medical missions in the area to offer free, quality care to refugees, with 95,637 medical services offered inside Zaatari Camp in 2016, the statement continued.

“The new medical centre has been carefully designed to address the growing need for ongoing, quality medical care to refugees, following the recent closure of a number of health facilities in the camp. We are proud to announce that our centre will be fully equipped to focus not only on treatment, but also on prevention, wellness and specialty care,” Tarakji was quoted in the statement as saying. “We are confident that the facility will serve as a beacon of hope and a place of respite for the camp’s residents, and in so doing, help provide them a future they can look forward to.”