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Previous crises in Syria stalling recovery efforts from deadly earthquake

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Following the powerful earthquake that left more than 45,000 people dead in Syria and Turkiye combined, emergency services are ramping up for hundreds of thousands of people in need of shelter, food and medical assistance.

Syria's population is especially struggling to get emergency services, while at the same time trying to recover from steady fighting between militant groups, an economic crisis and most recently, a cholera outbreak.

"Something to remember, … is that after 12 years of pretty significant crisis in the country and last year's cholera outbreak, this is now the third emergency on top of this," Chiran Livera of the Red Cross told CTV's Your Morning on Monday.

More than 52,000 suspected cases of cholera and 98 deaths from the disease have been reported since December. The first case in 14 years was reported in Aleppo in August 2022.

A shortage of water has made matters worse and impacted crops, affecting the nation's increasingly malnourished population.

Livera says international aid groups like the Red Cross have been working tirelessly to open up their services in community centres, mosques and schools, but the lack of resources is making it difficult to keep up with the growing number of people needing help.

The UN made available US$10 million to help 5 million people get access to water and sanitation needs amid the health crises and water shortage. However, officials say there is still more needed to keep up with demand.

"There's no fuel, there's no electricity, so everything is in a dire situation and people are relying on the system for things, so shelters are full of hundreds of thousands of people," Livera said.

Despite the challenges, Livera says international aid has helped the situation immensely, though he hopes it continues as the country will likely still be struggling to help those displaced from the earthquake for the next few months.

"Life-saving assistance has come in and we're delivering medicines, but now we need to focus on the resilience of the people and help them rebuild their lives and livelihoods, so we need more assistance, certainly in the next several weeks and months to come," he said. 

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