In December, Relief Experts Association (UDER) scaled up its health services in Sarmada, Termanin, and Atareb communities in Idleb and Aleppo governorates. UDER’s Sarmada and Termanin PHCs are located in Dana, which is the subdistrict that received the highest number of IDPs from southern Idleb and Maaret Annuman, according to CCCM Cluster in Gaziantep, while Atareb PHC is located in Atareb subdistrict, which is the second highest IDP arrival subdistrict.

Among the communities where Relief Experts is operating, Termanin witnessed the most significant burden, as 3 new IDP shelters were established to host the IDPs coming from southern Idleb. A referral pathway was established between Rehana IDP shelter and Termanin PHC with support from SRD’s referral network to transfer patients from Rehana and other IDP shelters to Termanin PHC. The referral cars transfer around 15-20 IDP patients at a time to Termanin PHC to receive health services in pediatric, internal medicine and gynecology clinics. The number of new IDP visits to Termanin PHC reached more than 50 per day starting mid-December, which increased the IDP visits to the facility by 30%. In Atareb and Sarmada, the health facilities have already reached their full capacity due to the large number of IDPs who arrived to these two communities during previous displacements, however, the percentage of IDP patients visiting the facilities slightly increased in December.

Although UDER’s facilities do not provide 24-hour services, the staff volunteered to respond to urgent cases after working hours, which may require an expansion in staff if the population numbers remain high for the next 2 months. The three health facilities are also providing referrals to higher level facilities in coordination with different referral networks and ambulance systems in the area.