More than thirteen years of crises have taken a heavy toll on the health and well-being of Syria’s population, particularly its healthcare workers. On this World Mental Health Day, themed “Mental Health at Work,” WHO is highlighting the immense challenges faced by healthcare providers and patients across the country. Their stories reflect resilience in the face of hardship, set against a backdrop of dwindling resources and a health system stretched to its limits.

In Aleppo, Dr. Hiba Aubrey, an Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor and head and neck surgeon, remembers the morning of 6 February 2023 as if it were yesterday. “At 4:17, we were jolted awake by strange noises and the ground was shaking beneath us,” she recalls. Leaving her family in what she hoped was a safe corner of their damaged home, she rushed to the hospital, where crowds of injured patients awaited care.