Pollution aggravates leishmaniasis inside Raqqa

Exclusive – Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently

Efforts to curb the disease, and limitations on the organizations seeking to resolve

Leishmaniasis emerged in recent at the level of epidemics and diseases that spread in Raqqa province, where this disease is considered the most dangerous in this period, in terms of proliferation and increase in the number of infected cases and geographic area of spread.

The first cases of the disease have been discovered in September 2013, by a team of MSF which has monitored the presence of a number of cases among the displaced people in the city of Raqqa, the number of such cases increased with time in the absence of health centers which deal with this disease and provide prevention, in the middle of 2014 danger indicators were so great in view of the number of infected cases, where the number of cases reached high levels, and some areas have become infested by the disease.

Leishmaniasis concentrated in the northern region mainly, especially in Suluk area in the north-east of Raqqa near Hasakeh governorate, where it has been recorded more than 2,500 cases in that area, and it seems that most of the infected cases were a result of friction with displaced families of Hasakeh governorate toward Raqqa, which brought the disease with them, and there are approximately 500 cases in Raqqa city and another number of cases in Tabaqa city and the eastern countryside.

Some organizations intervened and began working to fight disease and provide vaccination and treatment, and with the control of ISIS group on Raqqa, many international and regional organizations have closed its offices in the city, and some of them have been prevented from working in the entire governorate, as a number of cadres of those organizations have also been subjected to arrest or confiscation of equipment, which caused the reluctance of many of them from work because of the dangerous situation inside Raqqa, in spite of that, there is one organization still trying to control the disease and reduce its spread and provide treatment, under the control of ISIS group which did not show any attention to the spread of this disease.

The danger of this disease lies in some levels and types which may be fatal (Visceral leishmaniasis), which is generally spread epidemic way and leaves distortions in the infected areas of the body.

The team of “Raqqa is being slaughtered silently” has estimated the number of infected cases inside the city and in the countryside in approximate way, because of the difficulty of moving and working under the control of ISIS, where the numbers of infected persons were as follows:

– Raqqa city / 500 /
– Northern countryside / 2600 /
– Eastern countryside / 60 /
– Western countryside / 120 /