Barbara Walters chats with Forward Syria
Swaying between art and seduction
Discussing monetary policy with the man in charge
Where the earth screams in horror
02/12/2011 - Issue 48
The effect of US sanctions on the Syrian health sector
Syria’s public and private sectors are feeling the impact of US economic sanctions. Former US president George Bush signed an executive order on May 11, 2004 imposing the embargo in accordance with the Syria Accountability Act. These sanctions prohibit the export to Syria of American products other than food or medicine, but the ban also prevents the export of medical equipment to Syria.
“I will say, frankly, that the sanctions stopped the flow of medical equipment from the United States to this country,” Syria’s Deputy Minister of Health Jamal al-Wadi said in an interview with Forward Syria.
“These sanctions prevent Syrian citizens and companies from accessing American-made medical equipment. So we went to other countries and companies to get similar equipment. These sanctions are illegal and illogical because they target the healthcare sector, which is a humanitarian sector and this proves that the US administration’s practices are against its principles. They put pressure on Syrian citizens, not the government.”
Karim Tabah is one of the directors of Syrian Medical Services, a private company that represents several international firms who provide hospitals with medical supplies.
“Our company was representing an American company but, after the sanctions were imposed, our business with that firm was stopped. We are required to get special approval to import its products. But because it was not high-tech equipment we were importing, we preferred to source them from other countries,” said Tabah.
According to Tabah, the Syrian medical market is split; 70% is accounted for by the public sector, with the remaining 30% being private. Although the private sector is expanding, the public sector is the major buyer of European goods and high-tech equipment. European companies are strongly represented in Syria, a result of geographical and historical ties. British, Spanish, Italian, Belgian, French and German companies have a significant presence in the country.
“I would describe the sanctions as irritating but not as having a high impact,” Tabah said. “The sanctions are irritating in diagnostic fields such as X-rays, Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRIs) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NMRIs) because most of the components they use are American. However, Germany and Japan can supply us with the same quality of equipment. From the beginning, our company dealt with European products although the companies that bought American products are wholly affected by the sanctions.”.
