One Year Since Fall of Assad Regime, MedGlobal Calls for Rebuilding Syria’s Health System and Supporting Released Detainees

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Lucy Carradine, [email protected]

One Year Since Fall of Assad Regime, MedGlobal Calls for Rebuilding Syria’s Health System and Supporting Released Detainees

As Syria marks a year since the collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime, MedGlobal is working intensively to support the full recovery of the Syrian healthcare system and the Syrian people. That work includes international medical missions to help train and support Syrian healthcare workers, running health clinics in refugee camps for those who remain displaced, providing medical equipment directly to hospitals, and implementing a major program focused on mental health care for hundreds of former detainees.

In Homs, Syria, hundreds of recently released detainees are participating in MedGlobal’s effective mental health treatments, which provide psychosocial support to improve former detainees’ reintegration into families and communities. After seven sessions, participants in the program have reported significant improvements in depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress symptoms. Participants’ overall severity of depression dropped by 37%, anxiety by 36%, and PTSD by 22%. The number of participants at a clinical level of depression fell by 60%, anxiety by 51%, and PTSD by 31%.

As more than 20,000 formerly detained persons were released from prison over the past year, MedGlobal aims to expand this groundbreaking treatment program to other regions across Syria, delivering mental health and psychosocial support to an underserved, highly vulnerable population, while contributing to the rebuilding of Syria’s mental health system.

“While the old regime is gone, the long-term effects on the Syrian people of decades of repression and conflict will continue to linger for a long time,” said Anas Barbour, MedGlobal’s country representative for Syria. “We are proud to work tirelessly to help restore the Syrian healthcare system to full capacity, and to pioneer transformative mental health care for hundreds of former political prisoners who deserve strong support to reintegrate into their families and communities.”

MedGlobal urges the international community to increase humanitarian assistance and do more to help rebuild Syria’s shattered healthcare infrastructure. A systematic approach to remapping resources and services is critical to ensuring that all Syrians, including the large population of returnees, have adequate access to healthcare, nutrition support, and mental health care going forward.

“At the moment when Syria is best poised to break the cycle of crisis, greater support is urgently needed. The humanitarian response received a mere 30% of required aid this year — its lowest level in a decade. But humanitarian needs did not evaporate with the change in power. Hospitals, schools, roads and entire cities remain destroyed and millions continue to grapple with trauma,” said Anastasia Moran, MedGlobal’s Advocacy Director. “This is not the time to ease off; it is the time to accelerate. Syria’s recovery and self-sufficiency is within reach, but only if the international community acts decisively. A donor conference in early 2026 is essential to galvanize support for the humanitarian response and longer-term recovery, including the rebuilding of the health system. Remaining blanket sanctions must also be finally lifted, including the U.S. Caesar Act, to enable full recovery for millions of Syrians.”

MedGlobal’s president and co-founder is Syrian-American Dr. Zaher Sahloul. Dr. Sahloul is the past president of the Syrian-American Medical Society, co-founded the American Relief Coalition for Syria, and has received numerous awards honoring his humanitarian work in the country.

About MedGlobal

MedGlobal is an international medical NGO dedicated to providing emergency response and sustainable healthcare to vulnerable communities worldwide. MedGlobal works to deliver care, train local providers, and amplify the voices of those most impacted by crises, ensuring that the principles of justice and dignity guide humanitarian response.