Mamoun holds his grandmother’s hand tightly in the dialysis ward at Bab al-Hawa Central Hospital in northern Idlib, Syria, a facility now facing imminent closure due to halted funding.
As his grandmother undergoes dialysis, Mamoun, who still lives in a displacement camp, expresses his distress: “I don’t know what will happen to my grandmother if Bab al-Hawa’s dialysis unit shuts down. We have no means to afford private hospitals, and it seems we’ll have no choice but to leave her in the tent, untreated, left to face whatever fate God has written for her.”
Similarly, Sabah, another dialysis patient, struggles to conceal her pain and fear over what the coming days might bring. Living in a displacement camp, she has no support except for her brother, who has been taking her to dialysis every two days for the past nine years.
More than 100 patients, spanning all age groups, face an uncertain fate if the dialysis unit at Bab al-Hawa ceases operations next month. This hospital, previously funded by the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), lost its financial backing following former U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to cut foreign aid through USAID.
Over 100 Medical Centers Have Exhausted Their Funding
Opened in 2012, Bab al-Hawa Hospital provides specialized medical services rarely available elsewhere in Syria, including microsurgical neurology, ophthalmology, cochlear implants, dialysis, cardiology, and oncology. It also operates multiple intensive care units, according to its executive director, Dr. Yassin Aloush. The hospital serves 17,000 patients per month, the majority of whom are internally displaced people (IDPs) living in camps.
Speaking to Daraj, Dr. Aloush explains: “After the fall of the Assad regime, Bab al-Hawa became a vital medical hub for Syrians from all governorates, as the country’s healthcare sector had been decimated during the previous regime’s rule. However, as of February 2025, the hospital has ceased operations, except for emergency services. After securing some local donations, we managed to resume full capacity, but only for one month. If no new funding is secured, we will be forced to limit our services to life-threatening emergencies only.”
Dr. Mazen Kawara, the regional director of SAMS, describes Bab al-Hawa as one of the most important hospitals in northwestern Syria. SAMS had supported the hospital since 2019, but when the U.S. grant was cut in September 2024, the hospital began struggling. Despite this, SAMS continued funding Bab al-Hawa until January 2025, after which Trump’s funding freeze forced its complete suspension. The hospital requires $2 million annually to operate.
The impact of the American president’s decision to cut foreign funding through USAID extends beyond Bab al-Hawa, affecting numerous medical centers and hospitals across Syria.
According to the United Nations office in Gaziantep, Turkey, the lack of humanitarian funding for Syria is leading to severe humanitarian consequences. Since the beginning of 2025, funding has been cut off from 102 medical facilities across the country.
In its January 30, 2025 report, the United Nations called on international actors to provide $1.2 billion to support 6.7 million vulnerable people in Syria through March 2025.
Trump’s New Policies
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has long provided vital support to various sectors in Syria, including water and sanitation projects, water pumping stations—particularly in displacement camps in the province of Idlib —agriculture, food security, education, and healthcare. USAID funding has also played a crucial role in economic stabilization by creating job opportunities, supporting small and medium enterprises, and promoting early recovery programs to strengthen local productivity.
However, upon assuming office as President of the United States, Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending all foreign aid funded by USAID for 90 days, citing the need to assess the program’s alignment with U.S. foreign policy.
On February 27, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily upheld Trump’s decision to freeze foreign aid, allowing the suspension to remain in place pending further review.
The United States is the largest global provider of humanitarian aid, operating bases in over 60 countries and providing support in dozens more, often outsourcing aid distribution through contracted entities.
According to the Associated Press, the Trump administration is seeking to eliminate more than 90 percent of U.S. foreign aid contracts, amounting to approximately $60 billion in cuts through USAID.
A Collapsed Healthcare Sector
Following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the rise of Syria’s new administration, the country’s healthcare sector witnessed the mass dismissal of thousands of employees from hospitals, clinics, and government-run medical centers. Commenting on the situation, Minister of Health Maher Al-Sharaa stated: “We had thousands of ‘ghost employees’—individuals appointed by the former regime purely as political favors.”
During a press conference, the minister revealed alarming figures from the Health Directorate of a small Syrian province, where 17,000 individuals were listed as healthcare employees, despite the province having a population of only 200,000 people. He also pointed out that thousands of workers in the healthcare sector lacked any medical qualifications, underscoring the depth of administrative corruption, which now poses a major challenge to rebuilding Syria’s healthcare system.
The transitional Ministry of Health now faces a monumental task in rebuilding a healthcare infrastructure that has been decimated by war, where 80 percent of medical facilities are non-operational and severe shortages of medical personnel and essential supplies persist.
Minister Al-Sharaa emphasized that comprehensive restructuring is needed to address systemic corruption and ensure operational efficiency. The ministry plans to redistribute stored medications and medical equipment fairly while securing support to rehabilitate hospitals and enhance the capabilities of medical professionals.
