Amid indiscriminate shelling by the Syrian government and its allies in northern Syria, many of those who worked in the medical field, including doctors, pharmacists and nurses, fled the country at a time when their areas were in dire need of medical attention. This has prompted a number of women to fill the medical void by forming medical points and field hospitals in Idlib and its countryside and in Aleppo’s western countryside.
Alia al-Ahmad, a nurse at the Idlib National Hospital, never expected to work in the medical field. “In the past, I could not bear to see injuries and blood, but things changed after witnessing the regime’s daily violence against civilians. I decided to be courageous because I felt I had a responsibility,” she told Al-Monitor.
