Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the
director-general of the World Health Organization, travelled to earthquake-devastated
districts of rebel-held northwest Syria on Wednesday, according to an AFP
correspondent.
Tedros visited the government-controlled
regions of Aleppo and Damascus the week before the accident, making him the
highest-ranking UN representative to do so since the earthquake on February 6.
He entered Syria on Wednesday from the
adjacent Turkiye via the Bab Al-Hawa crossing, according to the correspondent,
and he visited a number of hospitals and a refuge for the displaced.
Activists and rescue teams in the rebel-held
northwest criticised the UN's tardy response after the earthquake, contrasting
it with the planeloads of humanitarian aid that have been transported to
airports under government control.
Around 258 planes carrying relief, including 129
from the United Arab Emirates, have arrived in regime-controlled areas.
On February 12, UN Relief Chief Martin
Griffiths acknowledged that the organisation had "so far failed the people
in northwest Syria."
Since then, a $397 million appeal has been made
by the UN to aid earthquake victims in Syria.
Since the disaster, 420 trucks carrying UN aid
have reportedly entered the rebel-held area, according to the UN.
The north and northwest of Syria are home to
more than 4 million people, 90 percent of whom are dependent on help for
survival.
On February 9, three days after the
earthquake, the first UN assistance convoy entered the region and brought tents
and other supplies for 5,000 people that had been anticipated before the
catastrophe.
The only method for help to enter without
Damascus's consent is through the Bab Al-Hawa crossing in the neighbouring
country of Turkiye, where the UN mostly distributes aid to northwest Syria.
The bridge is situated in the Idlib province,
which Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, a jihadist organisation, rules and which UN
representatives hardly ever visit.
On February 12, the head of the WHO reported
that Assad had indicated a willingness for additional border crossings so that
aid could be sent to earthquake victims in the rebel-held northwest.
Similarly, on February 13, the UN reported
that Damascus has granted it permission to utilise Bab Al-Salama and Al-Rai,
two additional crossings in regions beyond its control, for a period of three
months.