This morning, the 6th December 2024, all six clinics in the suburbs of Homs operated by the Syrian Family Planning Association (SFPA), a member association of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), were forced to close due to escalating violence and theft. Armed opposition forces seized an ambulance and two vehicles used as mobile clinics, targeting them for their gasoline, which is becoming increasingly scarce in the region. For many pregnant women, these clinics were their only source of prenatal and delivery care, and their closure now places them in severe and life-threatening danger.

These clinics, some of the last remaining in the region after years of instability, served Syria’s most vulnerable communities, where maternal health resources are critically limited. Their closure jeopardises the survival of thousands of mothers and their babies, cutting off access to vital prenatal care, safe deliveries, and postnatal support.

"The closure of these clinics is catastrophic. For many women, these were the only facilities where they could receive the care they needed during pregnancy and childbirth. Without them, we are looking at a surge in preventable maternal and newborn deaths. It will be a disaster," said Fadoua Bakhadda, Regional Director of the Arab World Region for IPPF.