Poor infrastructure leads to outbreaks of skin diseases in refugee camps in Northwest Syria

The number of people infected with skin diseases has been evidently increasing in camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in northwest Syria and mainly in Nour Al-Huda camp in Idlib.

High temperatures, deteriorating infrastructure and polluted water swamps caused by wastewater streams put people mainly children at an increased risk of skin disease.

Ahmed Daadoush, a dermatologist in Idlib, told A24 News Agency’s reporter Hussein Al-Zaidi that overpopulated areas were also behind the spread of such diseases like scabies, fungi, leishmaniasis and lice and rash.

For his part, IDP Ahmed Kalaaji also spoke to A24 and called on international organizations to provide necessary treatment to camp’s residents, especially children.

Statistic report by local organizations indicates 400 cases of skin diseases in Idlib camps have been recorded. There are around 1,489 camps in northwest Syria inhabited by roughly 1.5 million IDPs who left their homes over the course of the Syrian civil war.