Gaza doctors without tools and patients without treatment, this is the current reality of Gaza where health care is collapsing under the weight of siege, aggression and lack of resources. Doctors work in a near-zero resource environment, with no adequate surgical tools, no vital medicines, and no electricity to keep medical devices running. In front of them stand hundreds of patients daily, some struggling with death, others suffering from chronic diseases without treatment.
Challenges faced by Gaza doctors
Gaza’s doctors are on the front lines, embodying humanity despite all the destruction, shortages and fatigue. Amidst a suffocating siege and constant aggression, they work in an environment unfit for life, deprived of the most basic elements that guarantee the safety of both the patient and the doctor. However, they continue to perform their humanitarian duty. The main challenges faced by Gaza doctors:
1. Destruction and bombing of health facilities
Since the beginning of the October 7 war, health facilities have been a central target of the Israeli occupation, hospitals and medical centers have been destroyed and subjected to partial or total bombardment, leading to their decommissioning.
It also forces patients and medical staff to evacuate, endangers everyone’s lives, and disrupts medical functioning. Sometimes, health facilities are used as shelters for displaced people, adding additional pressure on these facilities, which are already limited in capacity and capacity.
2. Severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies
The health sector in Gaza suffers from a shortage of medicines and basic medical supplies as a result of the war, especially after preventing the entry of medical and humanitarian aid. This shortage includes essential medicines such as anesthetics, heart medicines, cancer drugs, chronic disease medicines, antibiotics, in addition to surgical instruments, intravenous solutions, and preventive supplies for medical staff.
Doctors often have to postpone surgeries or watch their patients lose their lives in front of their eyes due to lack of proper treatment, and emergency patients do not have the tools to save them.
3. Gaza Doctors Target Medical Staff
The number of doctors and nurses is not commensurate with the increasing needs under the war on Gaza, so the doctor has to work for very long periods without rest. More than 1,400 medical personnel have been killed, while many more are missing or detained. This makes it more difficult to cope with the large number of daily injuries.
4. Power outages and fuel shortages
Power outages and fuel shortages pose a daily crisis that threatens the lives of patients. With power plants deliberately targeted and fuel shipments blocked at crossings, hospitals are unable to operate generators, resulting in the sudden shutdown of resuscitation devices, incubators, and operating rooms, resulting in the deaths of patients who could have been saved without electricity.
Read more about Fuel Crisis in Gaza
How does lack of tools affect health care in Gaza?
The lack of medical tools and supplies directly affects health care in Gaza and threatens the lives of thousands of patients every day. With this shortage, hospitals are unable to provide basic medical services.
1. Gaza doctors damaged to postpone or cancel surgeries
Due to the lack of basic surgical tools such as strips, sutures, or sterilisation tools, hospitals are forced to postpone or cancel many operations, leading to the deterioration and possibly death of patients.
2. Inability to deal with emergencies
Every day there are large numbers of casualties, but a lack of tools such as breathing tubes or ambulance equipment leaves doctors unable to save all cases.
3. A direct threat to the lives of chronic disease patients
Patients with cancer, kidney failure, and heart disease require specialized devices and medications that are unavailable due to the blockade, leading to a deterioration in their health.
4. Deterioration of maternity services
Lack of birth kits such as incubators, fetal monitors, and birth kits puts the lives of mothers and newborns at risk and makes every birth a medical challenge.
How can we improve health in Gaza?
1. Donation to Gaza
The donation contributes to the provision of the most needed medical equipment in Gaza, basic medicines (antidepressants, painkillers, cancer medicines...), as well as first aid kits and surgery. He was also able to provide an ambulance for faster transport of the injured.
Read more: Ambulance emergency in Gaza
2. Media solidarity and the dissemination of facts
In light of the media blackout, popular media solidarity becomes a crucial tool to convey the reality of what is happening in Gaza, especially with regard to this health disaster, through the publication of pictures, videos, reports, or live testimonies about the medical and humanitarian situation in Gaza.
