Gaza's Hospital Stock Running on Near Empty
Hospitals in Gaza are forced to cancel
operations due to lack of medical supplies as the Israeli blockade continues.
by Mohammed Omer
Human rights groups in Gaza are urgently requesting that
international aid groups and donor groups to intervene and deliver
urgent medical aid to Palestinian hospitals in Gaza. Palestinian
officials say that Gaza's medicinal stock is nearly empty and is in
crisis. This affects first aid care, in addition to all other levels of
medical procedures.
Hospitals in Gaza are facing a crisis due to shortages of medical
supplies. Abu Salmia, the spokesman for Gaza's Ambulance and Emergency
Department, admits that Gaza's health conditions are reaching a critical
level, requiring "more action and not just words". (AFP/Getty) Adham
Abu Salmia, Gaza's Ambulance and Emergency spokesman, says the medical
crisis is acute and near catastrophic levels for patients within the
health sector of Gaza. If shipment of medicines are not replenished to
Gaza stocks in the coming weeks, he says it will worsen.
Dr Basim Naim, the minister of health in the de facto government
of Gaza, says 178 types of necessary medications are at near zero
balance in stock. He says more than 190 types of medicine in stock are
either expired or are close to their expiry date, which has forced his
administration to postpone several medical operations.
According to Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, the shortage in stock
represents 50 per cent of the total medicine on the inventory of the
Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The shortage of medicine in the Gaza Strip goes back to 2006 - after
Hamas won the majority electoral vote in the Gaza Strip - when newly
imposed Israeli sanctions brought cuts to the budget of the Palestinian
Authority, preventing or delaying vital medical aid from getting through
to Gaza.
Dr Naim announced the "emergency situation" on the shortage of medicines and
medical supplies.
In a June 8 press conference he stated that his ministry "has been
subjected to continuous humanitarian crises for several years … unlike
previous medical crises, which affected a specific number of patients,
these present crises will affect basic health service delivery for all
patients".
Cancelling operations
On May 10, Dr Hassan Khalf, deputy minister of health in Gaza told Al
Jazeera that Gaza's Al Shifa hospital had to cancel all scheduled
operations on eyes, blood vessels and nerves due to the shortages of
medicines.
"The crisis, exacerbated by the lack of medicines and essential items,
has affected the delivery of service at Al Shifa hospital," he said.
A press release published by Al Mezan Center for Human Rights stated
that the current problem was due to the inability of the Ministry of
Health to pay back loans from pharmaceutical companies. These costs are
estimated to be around $56,263,000, of which the Ministry of Health is
only expecting to be able to pay back $13,325,00 in 2011.
Over the past five years, Gaza's Ministry of Health has complained that
the shortage of medication is due to the Fatah government in Ramallah.
Fatah are accused of not sending adequate medical supplies through to
the Gaza Strip. Minister of Health Dr Naim, however, has also laid the
blame on the shortfalls of the West Bank Palestinian Authority.
The Gaza Strip and the West Bank are ruled by competing governments,
although they signed their deal in Cairo aiming to establish a new
national unity government. Dr Naim says that the US and Israel exert
pressure on the PA not to send medicines and medical supplies to Gaza in
an attempt to weaken the formation of the new Palestinian national
unity government.
Human rights groups agree that the crises have hit both the Gaza Strip
and the West Bank, due to the instability in foreign funding - and
Israel refusing to issue taxes and revenues collected on behalf of the
Palestinian Authority.
Officials at Gaza's Ministry of Health say that the ministry imports the
annual stocks of medicine each March. But, for the time being, supplies
have not been replenished since 2010, and the shelves are almost
empty.
Gaza's main hospital has to receive all medical supplies from the
Western-backed Palestinian Authority, because international donors
prefer the PA to control all humanitarian budgets and deliveries, so as
to avoid dealing with the Hamas-led government.
Al Mezan stressed that still, after five years, the inventory
supply crisis continues within the Ministry of Health and is "very
serious". The centre says "it is urgent that we expedite work at the
highest levels to develop policies and actions to address this crisis,
and to ensure the availability of a sufficient stock of medicines and
supplies to meet the needs of the Ministry of Health, under normal - and
emergency - circumstances".
Meanwhile, Dr Naim announced posponements of operations and medical
procedures, including the issuing of ICU drugs, obstetric supplies, a
suspension of much paediatric and ophthalmic surgery, cardiac
catheterisation, and renal, orthopedic and neurological surgery.
The ministry of health is in direct contact with Egypt, Qatar, Turkey
and "Middle East Quartet" - comprising the United Nations, United
States, European Union and Russia - in an attempt to get a prompt
reaction and to "immediately lift the siege" imposed on the health
sector, according to Dr Naim.
Needing 'actions and not just words'
In Ramallah this week, 700 Palestinian doctors jointly resigned from
their positions in hospitals across the West Bank. Health officials say
that such a collective move is the first in Palestinian history.
These doctors, who went on strike prior to their resignation, are among
1,050 physicians who had requested dialogue with the minister of health
in the Fatah government, Dr Fathi Abu Moghli. In a statement by the head
of the Palestinian doctors' syndicate in Ramallah, Dr Jawad Awwad said
this collective resignation was due to Dr Abu Moghli's policy of
"humiliating doctors by failing and refusing to have dialogue, despite
the strike lasting for 60 days".
However, Dr Mounir al-Boursh, director of Gaza's pharmaceutical
department within the health ministry said his hospital is "helpless"
due to the shortage of medical supplies, including analgesics,
antibiotics, antiseptics, bandages and spare parts for electricity
generators. The generators, which power cold-storage for blood, plasma
and vaccines, are even more vital for hospitals in Gaza's coastal area
than elsewhere, as there are frequent blackouts.
Meanwhile, the Strip's Hamas government announced that it would deduct
five per cent from the salaries of its 40,000 Gazan employees to
supplement the cost of medical supplies and medicines.
The health crisis involves more than medical supplies. Poorly equipped
hospitals have forced many Gazans to seek medical treatment in the West
Bank and Israeli hospitals, but this requires an exit permit for each
patient to pass through the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing.
Recently, Israel denied access to ten-month-old Ismail Salameh, who was
to receive medical treatment in an Israeli hospital, a process
coordinated and financially covered by Ramallah's health ministry.
Ismail has since been receiving medical treatment at al-Rantisi hospital
in Gaza. "My baby is bleeding on his brain," his mother said. "He
requires an urgent transfer for medical treatment."
Although Israel has given several hundred exit permits to patients who
need medical treatment outside the coastal strip, Gaza health officials
accuse Israel of delaying permits and keeping patients waiting longer
than necessary.
Abu Salmia, the spokesman for Gaza's Ambulance and Emergency Department,
admits that Gaza's health conditions are reaching a critical level,
requiring "more action and not just words".
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/06/14-1
We Will not Go down Tonight by Michael Heart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFPPVAuXWZ4&feature=related
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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