HEALTH
Supporting Gaza's Hospitals
Nov, 2019
“People think it’s better to get treatment outside [Gaza]. However, from my personal experience I would rather see the medicines and the labs for tests brought into Gaza. Then no one would even think of putting themselves through the humiliation and suffering involved in trying to leave Gaza.” - Azaam, patient at Al Quds Hospital.
Supplying Gaza’s Hospitals with Emergency Medicines
Farajallah has heart problems. “He had severe coughing and needed oxygen constantly,” his wife Haja Amena says. “Now he is supposed to go for cardiac catheterization.”
Wesal, a nurse at Al Quds Hospital in Gaza, counsels Amena on how she can support her husband’s recovery. Farajallah is receiving an IV drip and furosemide – a diuretic drug which prevents the body from absorbing too much salt.
Wesal is in a constant state of motion as she makes her rounds. She says that the hospital performs about 10 surgeries a day, and the waiting list for operations is very long.
In an adjacent room, another patient, Azaam, is laying in bed. Azaam was admitted to the hospital with an infection. His son, Omar, spent the night with his father.
Omar is distributing chocolates to visitors and caregivers who come to check on his father. “He had a high temperature and an infection in his urinary tract and chest,” Omar says of his father. The hospital has treated him with antibiotics and furosemide and given him painkillers.
Azaam feels confident that he is in safe hands. He praises the nurses and the staff who have done their best to make sure he feels better.
“People think it’s better to get treatment outside [Gaza]. However, from my personal experience I would rather see the medicines and the labs for tests brought into Gaza. Then no one would even think of putting themselves through the humiliation and suffering involved in trying to leave Gaza.”
Under the Palestine Humanitarian Aid project funded by Islamic Relief USA, Anera has delivered furosemide to Shifa and Al Quds hospitals. The views expressed herein are those of Anera and shall not, in any way whatsoever, be construed to reflect the official opinion of Islamic Relief USA, its Islamic Relief affiliates, or its donors.
