Brought to the brink of collapse by more than a decade of civil war, fragmentation, sanctions, and the displacement of countless medical professionals, the Syrian Arab Republic’s health system is on life support.

With the fall of the Bashar Assad regime in December and the rise of a fledgling transitional authority, Syria now faces the daunting task of rebuilding a unified and resilient health sector from amid the ruins.

Data from the World Health Organization shows that just 57 percent of Syria’s hospitals and 37 percent of its primary health centers are fully operational. However, even these suffer severe shortages, leaving millions unable to access basic services.

“Hospitals are outdated, primary health care centers lack essential services, technology is obsolete, and there is no health insurance, funding, or digitization,” Dr. Zaher Sahloul, head of the US-based medical charity MedGlobal, told Arab News.

“The Ministry of Health is tasked with resuscitating the healthcare system with a very limited capacity and a small cadre of health administrators. The whole healthcare system needs to be rebuilt.”