Over nine years of protracted and violent conflict in Syria has decimated its health system, killed an estimated 586,000 people and forcibly displaced more than half the 22 million pre-war population from their homes. As of June 2020, a total of 6.2 million Syrians (of whom 40% are children) are internally displaced (IDPs) and 5.5 million are refugees. Over half of Syria’s population (11.7 million) are in need of humanitarian aid across the whole of Syria. The provision of healthcare to the population is challenged by the multiple health systems functioning within Syria’s borders; there are currently at least four main health systems which include opposition-controlled areas in the North West Syria (NWS), Turkish controlled areas in the north, autonomous self-administration controlled areas in North-East Syria (NES) and government of Syria (GoS) controlled areas in the centre.
The UCL–Lancet Commission on Migration and Health: review of the state of progress
On June 20th, 2026, the UCL-Lancet Commission on Migration and Health published a review in The Lancet with the aim of summarising the state of progress since the Commission's 2018 global report. The review finds that progress towards protecting the health of refugees...



