January 2021 Activities and Updates from UOSSM USA
UOSSM Activities
UOSSM Commemorates 9th Anniversary on January 7
As we commemorate our 9th anniversary since UOSSM was established we would like to thank you. Thank you for supporting us and trusting us. On behalf of our UOSSM family, staff and healthcare workers who put their lives on the line every single day, in support of those affected by the war in Syria, thank you. With your support, we will continue to support and provide healthcare and lifesaving support to the most vulnerable of communities. Together, we are saving lives and building hope
Please click here if you would like to support our work.
UOSSM Turkey Opens Special Needs Rehabilitation Center in Idlib
UOSSM Turkey opened a Special Needs Rehabilitation Center (SNR) in Idlib. The center began operating on February 1, 2021. The center will provide services to children with special needs, pervasive development disorders (such as Autism), mental retardation (such as Down Syndrome), language and speech disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and children with learning difficulties in schools. In addition, the center will provide training to parents and families on how to deal with children with special needs. The trainings are guided through individual and group awareness sessions
UOSSM Establishing Mental Health Inpatient Hospitalization Unit for Acute Cases in Al Bab in Northern Syria
UOSSM will establish a mental health inpatient hospitalization unit for acute cases in Al Bab area. The aim of this unit is to enhance access to comprehensive mental health and psychosocial support services for treating acute mental disorders.
The acute mental health unit will be the third one of its kind throughout northern Syria, along with two other acute mental health units in Sarmada, Idlib, and Azaz, Aleppo, with the capability of providing specialized mental health services, psychotropic medications with a comprehensive inpatient regimen according to WHO standards, along with necessary required medical care.
UOSSM Continues to Support Three Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Centers in Idlib
UOSSM will continue to support three mental health and psychosocial support centers in Idlib aiming to ensure the continuity and sustainability of integrated MHPSS services in the Harem area and Deir Hassan Displacement Camps in Idlib, and the Karama Displacement Camps in Al-Dana.
The MHPSS services are provided by doctors trained in the mhGAP program, psychosocial workers (PSW), and community health workers, to provide quality mental health diagnosis, management and treatment. In addition, MHPSS services will provide structured, quality mental health and psychosocial support by well-trained psychosocial workers, which will ensure the continuity of quality healthcare and psychosocial support in the field of mental healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic.
UOSSM Supports Early Childhood Development Services Program in Northern Syria
UOSSM is supporting early childhood development (ECD) services that aim to integrate the ECD program into gender-based violence (GBV) activities ensuring young children have the opportunity to develop and learn through play-based activities.
This program ensures that both caregivers and children have access to health services, nutrition services and other services in the community by connecting them to service providers through a safe referral pathway. These services will be provided through the WGSS Center for Women and Girls, and the Men’s and Youth Center in Atma.
Impact Story- Basel
UOSSM’s community health team was making rounds in displacement camps in Idlib, Syria. When they met with the family of Basel they discovered a severely malnourished child that also suffered from iron deficiency. Basel did not begin eating solid foods until he was nine months old because he was suffering previously from colon infections. He was diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition according to the measurement on the MUAC bracelet.
The baby was referred to the nutrition clinic in the Quorqania PHC where he is now being treated for malnutrition. The community health workers provided advice to his mother to continue nursing him and offering the baby a wide variety of nutritious foods to improve his health. Basel was provided with nutritious supplements and will continue treatment until he reaches a normal weight. Healthcare should not be a privelege…everyone should have the right to free, quality healthcare. UOSSM wants to ensure this by providing accessible, free quality healthcare, via medical centers and mobile clinics, to those who need it most. We will continue to achieve this thanks to your support!
Together, we are saving lives and building hope.
Did you know?
Since 2012, UOSSM has been providing emergency medical relief and healthcare services to the Syrian people affected by the crisis, working primarily inside Syria and with Syrian refugees in Turkey.
In 2019:
UOSSM provided medical services to almost 1.5 millionpeople in Syria and Turkey
UOSSM provided primary health care services to over 235,000 people
UOSSM provided protection services to over 29,000 people
UOSSM provided over 93,500 beneficiaries with nutrition services focused on women and children
UOSSM Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services provided care to over 34,000 people
UOSSM Bab Al Hawa Hospital provided health care services to over 1 million patients since establishment through the end of 2019
UOSSM USA is a US federally tax-exempt non-profit 501(c)(3) Charitable Humanitarian organization. Tax-Exempt. Tax ID 47-3403988. All donations to UOSSM USA are fully deductible from taxes to the greatest extent permitted by law. Charitable Solicitation Disclosures available on our website: www.uossm.us
