11th February 2023 Urgent Health Needs in Northwestern Syria After the Earthquake: A Call for Action The earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey has caused widespread devastation in northwestern Syria, resulting in almost 14,000 injuries and more than 3600 deaths in the first five days, according to the health directorates. The UN's coordination mechanism, which relies on the Health Cluster in Gaziantep, has been paralysed due to extensive damage to the city. Meanwhile, networks of organisations like the Syrian NGO Alliance (SNA) have been unable to activate their role, as many of their workers were among those directly affected by the earthquake. As a result, individual organisations, Aleppo Health Directorate, Idlib Health Directorate and the White Helmets (Syrian Civil Defense) working without one coordination mechanism as was previously the case. Urgent Needs in the Health Sector