Health, pharmacies and emergencies

Health in Syria comes down to three headings: what you do before you travel, what you drink and eat while you are there, and where you go if something happens. The third is the weakest link, because the health system came out of the war badly damaged. That makes the first two matter more than they usually would.

This page is not medical advice

What follows summarises what travel health services publish about the country. Which vaccines suit you depends on your age, your history and what you already take, and that call belongs to your doctor. Book the appointment at least 8 weeks before you go: some courses run to two doses with a gap between them.

Vaccines

Routine cover comes first: measles, mumps and rubella, and diphtheria, tetanus and polio. Measles is endemic in the country and the risk is higher than in Europe.

Hepatitis A and typhoid are advised for most travellers; both are carried by unsafe food and water. A tetanus booster comes up if your last dose was more than 10 years ago.

For some travellers hepatitis B, rabies, cholera and, on long stays, BCG are worth discussing. Antimalarials are not needed: the risk is confined to a small area around Hasakah and is very low.

Water

Do not drink the tap water. Networks in many places are still being repaired, and when pressure drops after a cut a line can take in contamination. Sealed bottled water is sold everywhere and costs little; check that the cap has not been opened.

Ice is water too. Be careful with iced drinks from street stalls, and asking a restaurant where the ice comes from is not thought rude. Brushing your teeth with bottled water is not an extra precaution but the same one, continued.

Food

The measure is simple: hot and freshly cooked is safe. A crowded place is a good sign, because the ingredients turn over fast. Peel fruit yourself, skip salad where you do not know the washing water, and buy dairy from a shop where the cold chain plainly works.

Syrian cooking is not at odds with any of this: kebab, fatteh, kibbeh, lentil soup and bread straight out of the oven all arrive hot anyway.

Flies, ticks and animals

Sandflies carry leishmaniasis, which was long known in this region as the Aleppo boil. There is no vaccine and no preventive tablet, so protection is all there is: covered arms and legs in the evening and at night, repellent on exposed skin, screens on the windows. Show a doctor any sore that will not heal. It is treatable.

Do not touch street animals. Rabies is present in the country and treatment after a bite is not available everywhere. If you are bitten or scratched, wash the wound with soap and water for a long time and see a doctor the same day. Do not swim or wade barefoot in fresh water, and long trousers do a second job against tick bites.

Pharmacies and medicines

Pharmacies are common in the cities and you can ask a pharmacist without a prescription; most speak some English. The problem is not access but stock. Shortages reach even basic medicines, and finding a brand today does not mean finding it tomorrow.

So bring your own medication for the whole trip and several days beyond it. Carry it in the original box with the label, and get a letter in English from your doctor. A drug that is routine at home may fall under different rules here; ask a consulate in advance about prescription painkillers and psychiatric medication.

Hospitals

The health system was badly damaged in the war. Many hospitals and clinics were destroyed or closed and much of the staff left the country. Private hospitals and clinics operate in Damascus and Aleppo, and payment is cash up front. In smaller cities and in the countryside the option may be a single health centre.

In a serious case the realistic plan is not treatment inside the country. It is evacuation to a neighbouring one, and the only route to that runs through your insurance.

Insurance

Standard travel insurance usually does not cover Syria, and the reason is written into the contract: many policies are void in a country your foreign ministry advises against visiting, and that advice for Syria still stands.

Before you buy, ask two questions and get the answers in writing. Is Syria excluded, and is medical evacuation included? If either answer is vague, that policy will not do the job. Specialist insurers who cover war risk exist and they are expensive; put the cost into the trip budget from the start.

Emergency numbers

Police 112, ambulance 110, fire 113, traffic police 115.

The numbers work, but emergency capacity is thin and response times cannot be predicted. In practice the fastest route is often the hotel desk, your guide or your driver: they know which hospital nearby is actually open. Save the numbers the day you arrive, and carry your hotel’s address written in Arabic — you are the one who will show it to a taxi.

Worth packing: your own medication, oral rehydration salts, something for diarrhoea, painkillers, wide plasters, antiseptic, sunscreen and hand sanitiser. All of it is sold in pharmacies too, but none of it is what you want to be looking for at midnight.