Healthcare under siege: a qualitative study of health-worker responses to targeting and besiegement in Syria.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To explore health-worker perspectives on security, improving safety, managing constrained resources and handling mass casualties during besiegement in Syria.

Design

A qualitative study using semi-structured key informant interviews, conducted remotely over WhatsApp and Skype, and analysed thematically using inductive coding.

Setting

Secondary and tertiary health facilities affected by besiegement in Aleppo (from July to December 2016) and Rural Damascus (from August 2013 to February 2018).

Participants

Twenty-one male Syrian health-workers and service-users who had experienced besiegement and targeting of their health facilities.

Results

Participants described four related challenges of: (i) conflict-related responses, particularly responding

SUBMITTER: Fardousi N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6731863 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature