January 9th 2009
A report on the health situation in Gaza
Hatem Shurrab-an aid worker with Islamic Relief -reports on the health situation in Gaza
As I am writing this diary I keep thinking back to the scenes I saw when I last visited the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City. During the short time I was there a stream of injured people were coming in, seemingly without pause. It was chaos. Many of those arriving at the hospital were being carried by friends or relatives. Only half of Gaza’s ambulances are working now. Some have been damaged in attacks while others are languishing in a state of disrepair because there are no spare parts available.
As the injured kept pouring in, I wondered if the doctors are having any rest at all. Many told me that they were working 24-hour shifts. But only around one quarter of Gaza’s health staff are able to work, as it is now too dangerous for them to leave their homes.
Al Shifa is the main hospital in Gaza and is where most of those injured in the attacks have been taken. But like other health centres in Gaza, Al Shifa is seriously lacking in equipment and staff and as the bombing continues, it is at breaking point. Because of the blockade hospitals were already low on supplies before this crisis – now they can barely cope. Speaking with health staff they told me that supplies of essential medication are so low there is real risk that some operations may have to take place without anaesthetic.
With each passing day and night, the dangers in Gaza increase and so does the humanitarian crisis. It is very dangerous now to be out in the streets and it is becoming more difficult to deliver our aid. However the needs just keep on growing.
Islamic Relief’s aid team has been delivering essential medical aid such as surgical sets, hypodermic needles, bandages and scissors to hospitals including Al Shifa and the paediatric hospital, since this crisis began. We have also purchased medical equipment such as anaesthesia machines, operating trolleys, defibrillators and oxygen cylinders that are being brought into Gaza in coordination with the World Health Organisation.
A couple of days ago Islamic Relief also provided four trucks of blankets and food aid to various hospitals including flour, rice, beans, tinned meat and fish. It was desperately needed. The supplies are enough for the Gaza Strip hospitals for more than a month.
When I was at Al Shifa two days ago, doctors told me how shortages of beds meant that they were sending seriously ill people home before they were ready. People who should be in hospital for weeks were leaving after only a few hours. They had no choice as there aren’t enough beds and every hour more severely injured people keep coming in requiring urgent medical attention.
The situation is so bad that a doctor will be operating on a patient as another two are brought in requiring emergency attention. These are impossible conditions and I don’t know how much longer they can go on for.
Gazans have only been receiving water once a week for the last six months. This situation has deteriorated further over the last two weeks. With no electricity in Gaza water cannot be pumped up, and more than 70 per cent of homes no longer have running water. This is very dangerous. As well as the obvious danger of being without water, there are added health issues and the possibility of the spread of disease. To exacerbate this risk further, all vaccination programmes in Gaza have stopped.
There are 56 primary health centres in Gaza. But according to the World Health Organisation, only 29 are these are functioning. None of the hospitals in Gaza City have electricity, all are dependent on their back up generators. These generators are now close to collapse and there is an urgent need for more fuel to keep them running. If these fail then life saving machines will no longer be able to run, and then there will be nothing the doctors can do.
Hatem Shurrab
Islamic Relief
January 10th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Nothing new under the sun. The Lancet continues with it’s one-sided reports. Have you ever reported on the post-traumatic stress disorders of Israeli children and adolescents exposed for over 8 years to “Kassam” missiles? A simple PubMed search will reveal the other side of the equation, or what the Lancet’s editor and readers are unable to comprehend. Your reporter fails to describe how Hamas leaders hide themselves dressed as medical staff in the Al-Shifa hospital.
BTW, would you tolerate in London (or Canterbury, or Norwich…) almost daily missiles from across the channel or Ireland? Certainly not!
Mr. Shurrab complains of the harsh conditions in Gaza. Have you ever heard of an army that proclaims 3 hours of cease-fire daily to allow humanitarian aid to its opponent?
January 15th, 2009 at 1:57 am
what can we do from the outside to help those in gaza, anything and everything is needed but the question is well it get to them or not