Syria as a War-Torn Country: How Prepared Are We for the Next Pandemic?

In late 2021, a young physician at a public hospital in Damascus had to choose which of two critically ill coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients would receive the last available intensive care unit (ICU) bed.There were no ventilators left, and oxygen supplies were running dangerously low.This scenario, emblematic of Syria's overwhelmed health care system, illustrates how COVID-19 did not create new problems-it magnified those left by years of conflict, underfunding, and migration of health professionals.