One of the many challenges over the coming months and years will be to rebuild Syria’s health system, obliterated by over a decade of targeted destruction, chronic neglect, and the killing and forced attrition of the health workforce.

The fragmentation and politicisation of Syria’s healthcare infrastructure mirrors that of the country at large, with multiple, autonomous health systems operating in parallel, each with a distinct set of stakeholders and funders within its respective geopolitical region. While the repatriation of forcibly displaced healthcare workers is critical to rebuilding Syria’s health system, there is limited guidance on how this can be feasibly accomplished.

Meanwhile, the medical needs on the ground are immense.

In just over two weeks following the overthrow of the Assad regime, Syrian physicians are raising alarm over vaccine-preventable infections and the risk of refeeding syndrome among the thousands of newly-liberated prisoners, many of whom had been starved in detention.

As Syrian refugees return and hundreds of thousands are continually displaced within Syria, we can expect similar warnings of food- and water-borne disease epidemics, excess mortality from non-communicable diseases and disability, and severe psychological distress, particularly among survivors of torture.