Palestine: obstacles to health in Gaza

“Diana is a newborn baby and the last girl of the Al-Gazaoui family. She has an intolerance to breast milk. The Minister of Health is not capable of offering her the therapeutic milk substitute she needs. The family attempts to buy one but due to the high price and limited demand, there isn’t enough and they can’t even pay for what they need. After they run out of the milk substitute, Diana develops cardiac problems and her health deteriorates rapidly”.   Palestinians in Gaza have to face a maze of obstacles to access secondary health services outside the Gaza Strip. Doctors of the World’s report, “The Labyrinths of Health in Gaza“, highlights that the current short-term humanitarian funding schemes directed to the health sector are not addressing the medium and longer-term development needs of a sector trapped in a protracted conflict. After 12 years of blockade, and with the ongoing de-development of the Gaza economy, lack of drugs, equipment, and qualified medical resources are a daily reality of the healthcare sector. The current situation is negatively driving the financial burden towards an unsustainable referral-based system, which is reaching its limits, with dire consequences for patients and the whole healthcare system. We encourage all actors involved to join forces to strengthen the humanitarian-development nexus and address very concrete challenges in improving the geographic distribution of health services. However,...
Source: Doctors of the World News - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Uncategorised Source Type: news