The number of Syrians disabled has increased significantly in the last three years as a result of indiscriminate bombing on residential areas, or contribution to fighting against Bashar al-Assad's army and its militias.
Locally provided statistics from Homs’s Northern countryside revealed that 200 people have a permanent disability such as hemiplegia or quadriplegia, or one person for every 1,000 residents.
If that rate was applied to Syria’s population, it could reach to 23,000 people. Moreover, according to the statistics, the number of partial disabled persons suffering from amputation or deformation reached to 2,000 in Homs only.
Dr. Abdel Hakim, a director of a field hospital, said that efforts are being made to evaluate the number of disabled people all over Syria.
“The disabled suffer of psychological and physical problems besides the feeling of guilt because of their inability to look after themselves, and the neglect they suffer by many revolutionary bodies," he said.
"The disabled need special care by their families or care-givers, as they need to change position frequently to avoid sores and ulceration, and changing nappies, besides special mattresses and psychological rehabilitation to accommodate with their new conditions."
Mohammed, who lost his eye after being shot, said that he ought to support his family of five beside his paralyzed father, but could not find work since the beginning of the revolution and received no aid for five months. Finally he received help to have cosmetic surgery and have a prosthetic eye.
Khalid, who had his whole leg amputated in shelling, condemned the opposition Interim Government and the revolution’s leaders for their neglect towards the disabled. He expressed his opinion of the need to give a monthly allowance to those diasbled Syrians equal to the international standards.
Khalid told Zaman al-Wasl that he went to Turkey hoping to receive help or support from generous people to procure a smart prosthetic leg which cost around $85,000.
Abdelwahab from Homs’ countryside accused the Social and Work Affairs department in the Interim Government of neglecting the disabled and their families, confirming that he contacted them via email, but they neglected his request.
A doctor in Homs revealed that the numbers of wounded people who need immediate and necessary surgery are "frightening".
"Most of them need treatment abroad, but unfortunately they cannot afford it," he said,
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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