A mother of five, 48-year-old Amina Yakoub is suffering from angina pectoris, joint pains, and diabetes. Amina is from Kobane City in the north of Syria. She left Kobane when fighting between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and opposition forces broke out in the city. She first moved to Turkey for 20 days and later to Kasnazan in Erbil, where she has lived for around five years. Amina says she cannot go back to Kobane because her house has been destroyed in the war.
Amina’s family is experiencing financial difficulties; their only source of income is from her 17-year old son. As such, it is difficult for them to afford medicines for her illness.
After being referred to the Cultural Center in Kasnazan, where humanitarian organizations like International Medical Corps are providing services, Amina now visits the center on a regular basis for scheduled health checkups and treatment. According to Amina, “The quality of the medicines is good and it has helped me control my condition. Sometimes, my blood sugar level goes as high as 500 mg/dL, which is why these medicines are very useful to me.” Her husband also receives care from the center. She adds: “We cannot receive these medicines from the pharmacy for free, but here they are given to us free of charge. This has helped us a lot, given our bad financial situation.”
Today, Amina is regularly checking her blood sugar levels and following up with a mobile medical team deployed by International Medical Corps to the Cultural Center, once per week. She receives guidance on how to manage her health, for which she is grateful.” Thanks to support from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration, this medical team provides over 1,300 consultations per month to Syrian refugees and conflict-affected Iraqis residing in Erbil.