The dire conditions reached a peak in December as protein impairment diseases, malnourishment, skin diseases and Hepatitis A proliferated across the town, according to SAMS.
The organization, which supports field hospitals in Syria with medical supplies and training, said it documented 31 deaths in Madaya from malnourishment and sniper killings as people made the trek out of town to smuggle in food from neighboring cities.
Medical practitioners based in Madaya reported to SAMS that 23 deaths were related to malnutrition and eight deaths were a result of sniper killings or injuries. Five deaths were infants younger than a year old, including one who was just a day old, the group said.
However, Dr. Fadel Abdul Ghani, the director of the Syrian Network of Human Rights, told BuzzFeed News that an estimated 21 people have died from starvation; and eight from lack of medical care.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) — an international nonprofit organization known in English as Doctors Without Borders — called for an evacuation of sick patients in the town on Thursday as “the only way to stave off a situation that is now catastrophic,” according to a statement from director of operations Brice de le Vingne.
