“The Syrian government will allow the United Nations to assess the basic medical needs of Syrians in four areas where opposition forces have clashed with government troops and to also carry out a preliminary humanitarian needs assessment, officials said Friday,” the Associated Press/Huffington Post reports. WHO spokesperson “Tarik Jasarevic says a ‘very preliminary and basic survey’ overseen by his agency and the U.N. Population Fund will be carried out next week with the cooperation of Syria’s health ministry,” the news service writes.

“Medical students and aid workers will fan out in four areas affected by the crisis: the … city of Homs, the southern town of Daraa where protests began, the northeastern city of Deir al-Zour and rural parts of the capital Damascus, he told reporters in Geneva,” the AP notes. “‘It is very difficult to assess needs and provide an independent evaluation in order to get a clear overview of the situation and the needs on the ground,’ Jasarevic said. ‘The results will be analyzed by a technical committee composed of most of the agencies of the health sector,'” the news service writes (Heilprin, 3/9).