Doctors' crowdfunded hospital brings hope in Syria

After a children's hospital in Aleppo was bombed in 2016, British-Syrian doctor Rola Hallam decided to try to raise money to build a new one.

Her crowdfunding campaign raised £246,000 in two weeks. A building was located and renovated, and a convoy of trucks carried medical equipment and supplies from London, across Europe to the Turkey-Syria border.

Hope Hospital, run by the Independent Doctors Association, opened in 2017. Two years on, Dr Hallam, now CEO of the CanDo Action charity, visited it for the first time.

The Syrian and Russian governments have rejected accusations that their forces have targeted hospitals.

Physicians for Human Rights say they have documented 573 attacks on 350 medical facilities - mainly by Syrian government and allied forces - since 2011.