Today's Edition
DINA MAHMOUD (GAZA, LONDON)
The Palestinian Ministry of Health disclosed that 350,000 patients with chronic illnesses are not receiving their medications due to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Ashraf Al-Qudra, issued a statement on Tuesday highlighting the serious health complications these patients face. Al-Qudra urgently appealed to international organisations for immediate provision of medications for those suffering from chronic diseases.
Additionally, Al-Qudra announced a critical shortage in medical supplies, including the depletion of nitrous oxide in operating rooms, essential for patient anaesthesia during surgical procedures. The details of this shortage, however, remain unspecified.
The World Health Organisation has confirmed that the number of hospitals in Gaza still partially operational can be counted on the fingers of two hands. Medical staff members, persevering under constant bombardment, stress that their capacity to continue providing services to thousands of patients and the wounded is drastically dwindling amid the war.
Due to over 300 attacks so far, only a handful of medical facilities continue to function, offering limited care as the number of war-wounded individuals rises, and deadly infectious diseases spread, worsened by deteriorating living conditions.
In a visual report by The Guardian, doctors at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, revealed a dire lack of necessary tools and equipment, with even the limited available beds being used in reception areas to accommodate the overwhelming influx of patients and wounded. This scarcity often forces doctors to place critically ill patients on the ground.
Concurrently, many Gaza residents, having lost their homes in the conflict, seek refuge in hospitals and medical facilities yet to be destroyed by the war.
