Evacuation to Spain provides newfound hope for a family in Gaza, as their son battles cancer; Mahmud, the father, expresses relief and optimism.
The healthcare system in Gaza is struggling to cope with the ongoing conflict, widespread destruction, and humanitarian siege, leaving it on the brink of collapse.
According to reports, the Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza is operating at a staggering 250% occupancy rate, without operating rooms or ventilators. The emergency rooms of the four remaining public hospitals in Gaza are frequently filled with up to 200 patients at once.
The situation is dire. Over 80% of health complexes have been damaged, and about half of the hospitals are inoperable or destroyed. The treatment of chronic diseases is critically affected due to a total lack of essential medicines and medical supplies. Specialist care such as cardiac surgery and orthopaedics has been halted or severely limited.
The ongoing conflict has led to mass casualties daily, overwhelming health services with an average of eight major casualty incidents per day. The hospitals are operating under severe fuel shortages that threaten imminent shutdown. The emergency of rare and severe conditions like Guillain-Barré Syndrome related to malnutrition and health-system strain is on the rise, but medications to treat such conditions are unavailable, leading to preventable deaths.
Mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression among the population have increased sharply due to the trauma of the conflict and destruction of medical infrastructure.
Currently, only very few hospitals remain partially functional, such as the Red Cross field hospital in Rafah, which has performed thousands of surgeries despite severe constraints. The United Nations and humanitarian organizations describe the situation as a dire and unprecedented humanitarian crisis, with Gaza’s healthcare system unable to meet the needs of its population, especially for chronic disease management and rehabilitation care.
The number of civilians injured in Gaza includes many children, with bullets in various parts of their bodies. Patients are often left unattended on the floor due to a lack of doctors and resources.
Monica Garcia, the Minister of Health in Spain, has emphasized the desperate conditions of the 13 Gazan children who arrived in Spain on July 31. She described their arrival as "truly heart-wrenching" and recalled that the Government of Spain has demanded an end to the genocide being carried out in Gaza. Garcia has also stated that the children arrived in clear malnutrition, without medication, and lacking basic necessities.
Garcia has expressed her concern about the situation in Gaza, stating, "What's happening in Gaza is terrifying" and that Spain is "gambling with our humanity as a whole."
References:
[1] UN OCHA (2024). Humanitarian Situation in Gaza. [Online] Available at: https://ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-situation-gaza
[2] WHO (2024). Health Cluster Annual Report 2023. [Online] Available at: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240036983
[3] Save the Children (2024). The State of Child Health in Gaza 2024. [Online] Available at: https://www.savethechildren.net/content/dam/global/reports/2024/state-of-child-health-gaza-2024.pdf
[4] Mental Health Gaza (2024). The Impact of the Conflict on Mental Health in Gaza 2024. [Online] Available at: https://mentalhealthgaza.org/the-impact-of-the-conflict-on-mental-health-in-gaza-2024/
[5] Amnesty International (2024). Gaza: A Humanitarian Crisis in the Making. [Online] Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/03/gaza-a-humanitarian-crisis-in-the-making/
- The science community has expressed concern about the medical-conditions escalating in Gaza, with a rise in Guillain-Barré Syndrome cases and mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.
- Climate change and environmental science experts have similarly highlighted the impact of the ongoing conflict on the environment in Gaza, with widespread destruction and frequent fires.
- The healthcare system's struggle in Gaza has found its way into general-news outlets, with reports of car-accidents and emergencies due to the lack of operational hospitals and essential supplies.
- The political implications of the crisis have been widely discussed, with numerous calls for an end to war-and-conflicts and humanitarian sieges in the region.
- Crime-and-justice issues have also been exacerbated due to the chaotic conditions, with the lack of resources leading to preventable deaths and injured patients left unattended.
- The emergency situation in Gaza has even attracted international attention, as evidenced by the arrival of 13 malnourished children from Gaza in Spain in July 2024, who were described as "truly heart-wrenching."
- The ongoing crisis in Gaza underscores a need for a well-rounded approach to health-and-wellness, encompassing not just medical care, but also mental health support, essential medicines, and proper infrastructure to address chronic diseases, rehabilitation care, accidents, and other health needs.
