Naim calls to ensure medical supply to Gaza

Gaza Minister of Health Bassem Naim said his ministry was working round the clock to provide service suitable to Palestinian citizens in light of challenging circumstances the strip faces after the devastating Gaza war two years ago.

Naim said his ministry has no stock of 190 of 420 essential medicines.

Depite the currently relative calm, Naim said, if an escalation occurred at any moment, the situation would become a real disaster within minutes or hours. “It is not a new crisis,” he said. “It has been exacerbating for months even years.”

Gaza received only 37 per cent of needed medicines in 2010, 48 per cent in 2009 and 51 per cent in 2008. The international community has assigned medical purchase and supply to the government in the West Bank.

The health minister called on international organizations to offer financial or material aid to take steps in solving the problem.

Naim stressed the need to spare the medical sector any political strife.

He called for development of a clear mechanism to supply Palestine’s health sector with all it needs without obstructions that would operate directly through West Bank technicians or supervised by international organizations.

Discussing donations, Naim said donors must make full coordination with the health ministry for the strip’s requirements. “If we want to save the medical sector, coordination must be made between the parties who send the convoys and the health ministry.”