Gaza patients in dire need of medicine

Hundreds of seriously ill patients in the blockaded Gaza Strip risk an imminent death unless badly needed medicines are provided to them.

Gaza’s ministry of health announced it lacks 190 different types of medicines and at least 200 types of surgical supplies, a Press TV reporter from Gaza said on Sunday.

A recent statement by the World Health Organization said that the Israeli blockade on Gaza in 2007 and the constant Israeli military strikes have led to ongoing deterioration in the social, economic and environmental determinants of health.

Medhat Abbas, general director of the al-Shifa medical complex in Gaza City, which is the city’s largest health provider, said that much of his hospital’s medicinal stocks have run out, including essential drugs needed for blood cancer patients, epilepsy drugs, drugs required for women and children, drugs during pregnancy and birth and many others.

He blamed both Israel and the Palestinian Authority for the ongoing crisis.

Some seriously ill patients are referred to hospitals outside the Gaza Strip for treatment. But many patients have had their applications for exit permits rejected or delayed by Israel and have missed their appointments with doctors.

As specialized drugs have become something of a rarity in the blockaded region, many patients of chronic diseases like renal failure say they are facing death.

Gaza health officials call on the international community to pressure Israel to lift the blockade and spare the lives of patients.

Gaza hospitals lack the necessary equipment and medicine to deal with the relatively high number of patients. The situation is especially dangerous for chronically ill patients, who have to be on medication for a long period and those requiring emergency operations.