Under the slogan “Save Cancer Patients”… activists and medical staffs call for an open sit-in protest in front of Bab al-Hawa border crossing

After launching the campaign of “Save Cancer Patients” on social media, activists and medical staffs invited on Saturday for an open sit-in protest in front of border crossings with Turkey (Bab al-Hawa crossing), calling for securing treatment for cancer patients in northern Syria.

This call came to shed light on the thousands of patients and to call for an urgent action from the international community and concerned organizations to “take serious steps” to treat cancer patients.

There are 31000 cancer patients in northwest Syria, 65% of them are children and women, according to Idleb Health Directorate which pointed that cancer patients’ daily rate is nearly 3 cases.

Idleb Health Directorate stated earlier that approximately 600 cases of cancer were recorded following the earthquake disaster, including 150 children and 200 women, and that they need to be admitted to Turkish hospitals for treatment.

The Turkish authorities refuse patients entry who had not previously been treated in their hospitals before the earthquake, while allowing those who have a previous review to enter and receive treatment, claiming that Hatay hospitals are not equipped, according to the media office at Bab al-Hawa crossing.