The Oncology, Thalassemia, and Burns Hospital in the city of Qamishli in Rojava (northeastern Syria), affiliated with the Kurdish Red Crescent, issued an urgent appeal to residents and people with different blood types to donate blood immediately, warning that the lives of dozens of patients are in danger due to the ongoing three-day blood shortage.
Nurse Ahmed al-Muhammad, from the Thalassemia Department, explained to the Kurdish Hawar News Agency, “The issue of blood is extremely difficult, as there is no blood bank in Qamishli. The staff is forced to rely on personal acquaintances or appeals via social media and mosques, as happened today at the al-Antariya Mosque, where a number of residents responded to donate.”
He added, “The hospital today received patients from al-Shaddadi and the villages of al-Darbasiyah with blood type O+, and the medical staff was forced to donate directly to them due to the lack of donors.” He emphasized that the hospital is in constant need of all blood types, and that the lives of patients are threatened if the shortage continues.
Al-Muhammad pointed out that the shortage is not limited to blood, but also includes essential medications for thalassemia patients, such as Exjade (pills), which have been missing for three days, as well as Desferal (injectables) and Deferiprone (syrup). He considered that the absence of these medications, coupled with the blood shortage, makes the patients’ condition more critical.
The hospital, which opened in 2023, is the first and only of its kind in the region and includes oncology, thalassemia, and burns departments (the latter has not yet been completed due to limited resources). Over the past three years, it has provided daily treatment to dozens of patients free of charge, despite the difficult economic conditions and high drug prices in private hospitals.
The hospital renewed its appeal to the people, emphasizing that “the need for blood is urgent and pressing, and the lives of patients depend on donors responding to this call.”