So far, 20 patients have received treatment at the Gaziantep University Hospital, most of whom are reportedly cancer patients.The patients contacted the Aleppo Information and Guidance Center in Turkey, which was established for the purpose of helping people coming from Aleppo receive treatment and navigate the Turkish healthcare system to ensure they are able to stay at the Gaziantep hospital until their treatment is concluded, even if over an extended period of time.
Müeeyed Sharabati, who has been undergoing treatment in Gaziantep, stated that with the project she will be able to regain her health. “When my health problems persisted after treatment in Damascus, I planned to go to Jordan. But Muhammad Hallaq, a friend of mine who is a doctor, advised me to go Turkey due to its close proximity and high-quality medical services. I then applied to the Aleppo Information and Guidance Center at Gaziantep University and am now being treated by Turkish doctors,” Sharabati, who has been at the hospital for a week, reported.
The project coordinator of the Aleppo Information and Guidance Center, İlyas Göğebakan, expressed the belief that the number of patients applying to the hospital from Syria will surge in the next two months.
Noting the warm relations between Damascus and Ankara, which have been further strengthened by the recent abolishment of visa requirements between the two countries, Göğebakan said only 120 kilometers separate Aleppo and Gaziantep. “If a patient in Aleppo wants to go to Damascus, it takes three or four hours; if he decides to go to Jordan, it’s a seven or eight-hour trip. Our aim here is to finish the treatment as quickly as possible and send them back home. Our staff helps patients coming from Aleppo with translation and counseling at the hospital,” Göğebakan stated.
