Aleppo boil spreads in Syria amid poor infrastructure

IDLIB, Syria

Aleppo boil is spreading across Syria’s regime-controlled Hama province due to lack of infrastructure and unhealthy living conditions.

Life for city residents has been deteriorating amid failure of the Bashar al-Assad regime to collect the garbage in the western-central province and inability to prevent sewage from flowing down into the Orontes River, known as Asi River in Turkey, local sources told Anadolu Agency.

Nearly 6,500 people are currently fighting against the disease which had become widespread in the city center since mid-2020.

Aleppo boil, also known as Aleppo ulcer or cutaneous leishmaniasis, is a parasite disease that is transmitted by the bite of a sand fly.

Seen in the Middle East and Mediterranean region, the disease can easily spread in areas lacking hygiene. Unless treated, the disease can lead to permanent scars.

The Assad regime has been facing public anger over failure to meet their basic needs in the regions it controls.

The regime, having lost control of the country's economy, cannot solve bread and fuel crises that have deepened in recent months. Hospitals are no longer able to provide treatment service to patients due to the ongoing crisis.

Hama has been under the control of the Assad regime since the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, when the regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Over the past decade, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN officials.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara