Healthcare services in Gaza have "vanished"; after three months of war, medical personnel are forced to remove shrapnel without painkillers, perform amputations without anesthesia, and watch children die from cancer due to a lack of facilities and medication. The Guardian, a respected British newspaper, has published an analytical report revealing the tens of thousands of victims struggling as Gaza's healthcare services fail to cope with the ongoing Israeli offensive and the effects of an acute humanitarian crisis.
Tens of thousands of people in Gaza with chronic, life-threatening illnesses have gone months without treatment and are now, according to doctors, "vulnerable" due to malnutrition, cold, and exhaustion. In one incident recounted to The Guardian, a child with a brain condition reportedly died just before a United Nations team could reach them with life-saving medication.
Cancer specialists who spoke to The Guardian said they were unable to assist patients in need of urgent treatment, including children with leukemia or tumors requiring immediate life-saving surgery.
Dr. Subhi Sukeyk, General Director of Oncology in Gaza and also General Director of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital in Gaza City, stated, "We have nothing to give them. We cannot perform surgery and we have no medicine at all." The hospital's main oncology department was forced to close in early November.
According to the newspaper's report, only 15 of Gaza's 36 hospitals remain open, and only three of those are undamaged.
Information indicates that diseases are spreading rapidly due to overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.
The newspaper also published interviews detailing the events in Palestine, drawing attention to the danger facing the healthcare system.
News Source: Taner Bildik
