Patients in Gaza endure a distressing delay as hospitals struggle under the weight of numerous cases.
Fourteen-year-old Mohammed Wael Helles has been awaiting surgery for a severe spine injury resulting from an Israeli airstrike for nearly two months, among thousands of Gazans seeking urgent medical care within Gaza’s compromised healthcare system.
Helles was an exemplary student with ambitions of pursuing a medical career when he sustained injuries weeks prior to a ceasefire that halted two years of conflict. The assault resulted in the death of the vehicle’s driver, severed his spinal chord, and broke three vertebrae.
“I am still youthful, at the commencement of my life,” he stated from his hospital bed in Khan Younis after regaining consciousness 50 days post-injury to discover he was largely paralysed.
Israel’s extensive military operation in Gaza, initiated by the lethal Hamas assaults on October 7, 2023, has resulted in injuries to at least 170,000 Gazans, as reported by local health authorities, and has forced the majority of Gazans into unsanitary tent camps afflicted by disease, exacerbating the pressures on a devastated healthcare system.
Over a month following the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas, around 50% of the 36 hospitals in the densely populated region are partially operational, as reported by the World Health Organisation, and they are impeded by deficiencies in personnel, equipment, medication, and fuel.
HOSPITAL PERSONNEL OPERATING CONTINUOUSLY
Despite the gravity of Helles’ condition and the fact that Nasser Hospital, the largest in southern Gaza, is where he awaits treatment, he may experience an extended wait due to its increased patient load resulting from the devastation of other medical facilities.
Mohammed Saqer, the hospital’s nursing director and spokeswoman, stated that staff were working around the clock but could only perform surgeries on up to 100 patients daily, a mere fraction of those requiring assistance.
“Despite the necessity for urgent surgeries, we must defer them to prioritise the most critical cases,” Saqer stated of patients on the waiting list.
“This has resulted in numerous patients succumbing to death.”
Physicians face the most challenging and unfavourable decisions.
According to Mohamed Abu Selmia, head of al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the situation in northern Gaza, where over half the population resides and the war damage is significantly more severe, is considerably more dire.
According to Abu Selmia, al-Shifa has 40,000 postponed procedures, characterising the judgements regarding prioritisation of patients’ lives and the deferral of surgery as the “most arduous and challenging dilemma that physicians are compelled to confront”.
Patients experiencing surgical delays frequently suffer, with limb injuries occasionally necessitating amputation and cancer patients discovering disease progression.
Eyad al-Baqari, 50, sustained injuries when an Israeli aircraft struck a neighbouring structure in Gaza City, resulting in falling debris that fractured his leg. He requires surgical intervention to implant pins for the correction of his leg, although he has been awaiting the procedure for three months.
He is compelled to walk to procure sustenance and water for his family, and his injury is deteriorating. “The physicians informed me that several bones in my foot were further compromised,” he stated.
NOTABLE PROGRESS SINCE THE CEASEFIRE
Since the implementation of the truce on October 10, there have been notable enhancements, with an increase in aid directed towards Gaza. Prior to the truce, only 14 hospitals were operational, whereas now there are 18. An increase in fuel and medical supplies is occurring, and the WHO has initiated a vaccination program.
Israel asserts that it has let the entry of the daily quota of 600 trucks of supplies stipulated by the truce agreement, however the Hamas-led Gaza administration claims that only approximately 150 trucks are entering each day.
The Israeli military did not promptly to a request for commentary regarding the damage to hospitals and the postponement of essential medical supplies and pharmaceuticals.
Abu Selmia reported that over 60% of the medications required at al-Shifa were entirely absent, and there were no operational MRI machines or mammography equipment in Gaza.
Fuel constraints diminished electrical supply and decreased ambulance availability, he stated. Staff shortages pose a significant issue, as 1,700 doctors and nurses have perished due to bombardment, and a further 350 are under prison in Israel, he stated.
Abu Selmia said Reuters that the health system is in complete disarray. “Certain patients succumb before they have the opportunity to obtain treatment.”