Healthcare Capacity Building in Northwest Syria: Challenges, Successes, and Lessons Learned

The conflict in Syria has caused significant loss of life and widespread displacement. Northwest Syria (NWS) has been heavily impacted, leading to challenges in providing healthcare services. Attacks on healthcare workers and facilities have worsened the situation. Healthcare students and professionals have been specifically targeted, disrupting their education and resulting in migration and a shortage of skilled healthcare workers. To address these challenges, local and international organizations and institutions have supported long-term projects to improve healthcare facilities and provide a trained healthcare workforce. Collaborations with multiple stakeholders have been established to ensure comprehensive and effective training opportunities, enabling healthcare workers to better serve the population's healthcare needs. A range of undergraduate, postgraduate, and research programs have been developed to enhance healthcare capacity building. These programs aim to strengthen the knowledge and skills of healthcare professionals in NWS. Efforts have been made to strengthen the health system and build the capacity of policy makers in utilizing evidence-based knowledge for informed policy decisions. Global and regional partnerships, along with adequate funding, have played a significant role in the successful enhancement of capacity building activities at all levels. Building healthcare and health research capacity in underdeveloped and conflict-affected parts of NWS presents numerous challenges. Underdeveloped infrastructure, inadequate teaching and service delivery tools, gender disparities, and the sustainability of funding create obstacles to effective capacity building. The political context, coupled with security concerns further complicate efforts. The accreditation of education, and the brain drain of skilled healthcare professionals, add to the difficulties in strengthening the healthcare system in NWS. Addressing these challenges requires comprehensive and collaborative approaches that prioritize stability, security, gender equity, sustainable funding, and improved coordination and resources for education and service delivery. The lessons learned from capacity-building efforts in the Syrian conflict have broader implications for other regions facing similar challenges.