HEALTH
Healthcare In Hebron’s Old City During the Pandemic
Dec, 2020
Medical donations are a critical resource for this health clinic serving Palestinians in Hebron
Majeda, 57, lives in the Old City of Hebron. The mother of 11 daughters relies on the Hebron Charitable Medical Center for her healthcare. For Majeda and her husband, the clinic has long been a valued local health resource because of the warmth and dedication of its doctors and nurses.
Majeda lives with diabetes. She was surprised when she received the diagnosis some years ago. Fortunately, she has been able to successfully manage her condition by taking empagliflozin and metformin to lower her blood sugar. Anera medical donations have ensured that the clinic has the medicine in stock.
Today, Majeda came to the medical center with dizziness. Clinic physician Wael El-Rajabi finds that her blood pressure is high.
She is prescribed candesartan, which is a medicine used to treat high blood pressure. Addressing hypertension helps to prevent a host of other serious health problems like strokes, heart attacks, and kidney failure.
Thanks to a generous donation from Americares, Anera recently distributed candesartan to hospitals and medical clinics across the Palestinian West Bank.
Treatment for chronic diseases like diabetes now also comes with a screening for COVID-19
El-Rajabi is also concerned about her other symptoms: loss of appetite, fever, sore throat, slight cough and shortness of breath. He worries that Majeda may have contracted COVID-19, which x-rays subsequently confirm.
The clinic tells her to quarantine herself and refers her to Dura Hospital, which specializes in treating the COVID-19 disease. Due to her risk factors, Majeda is under close observation.
He emphasizes the importance of psychological support, both for the sake of mental health and because frustrated or depressed patients can have a weaker immune system.
Effectively treating chronic conditions is also a crucial part of the healthcare system response to the pandemic. He says,
“The medicine helps us to control the situation and, through doing this, we’re making a difference.”
Thanks to a medical donation from Americares, Anera has distributed a shipment containing 1,440 packs of candesartan cilexetil 8mg tablets, including 400 packs to the Hebron Charitable Medical Center.
