Ministry of Health Warns Against Stopping Surgeries in Gaza Hospital Within 10 Days
Gaza, MINA – The Palestinian Ministry of Health has warned against stopping all surgical operations in hospitals in the Gaza Strip, in light of the severe shortage of nitrous gas in the Strip due to the Israeli occupation’s prevention of its entry since the beginning of this year.
Mahmoud Hammad, Director General of Administrative Affairs at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, said that the available quantities of nitrous gas are sufficient for only ten days.
According to MINA’s contributor in Gaza, Hammad warned of a catastrophic situation in the case that the ministry runs out gas.
He warned against stopping all surgical operations after the ministry’s gas ran out, which is sufficient for only 10 days, pointing out that many medical devices stopped working because the occupation prevented the entry of their spare parts.
False Israeli Excuses
The Director General of Administrative Affairs in the Palestinian Ministry of Health disapproved the pretexts used by the occupation authorities, and said that the supply of gas to the Ministry of Health is carried out by two licensed companies in Israel, and the gas is mobilized for them by an Israeli company “Maxima”.
He pointed out that the Ministry of Health – through the General Department for International Cooperation – contacted international bodies, including the World Health Organization, to enter nitrous gas to the besieged Gaza.
However, the Israeli occupation refused to respond to those demands.
Hammad said that the ministry contacted the World Health Organization and many international partners regarding this matter to avoid the expected results from the cutout of gas.
He explained that they had received promises from those parties, expressing his hope that their request would be responded to by providing the important gas to surgical patients.h
Sortage of Medical Aids
The Director General of Administrative Affairs in the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that the facilities of the Ministry of Health need 120 nitrous gas cylinders per month, each cylinder contains about 27 kilograms of gas.
He indicated that running out of gas means inevitable death, especially for those who need urgent and emergency surgeries.
Hospitals in the Gaza Strip perform about 5,000 surgeries per month, including emergency and scheduled operations, cesarean sections and other operations, all of which depend mainly on nitrous gas.
In addition, more than 2 million citizens in the Gaza Strip depend on government health facilities to receive health services and perform surgical operations in light of the continuation of the siege and the high rates of poverty among the residents of the Strip.
Al-Shifa Hospital performs 10825 surgeries during the first half of the year.
The surgical teams at Al-Shifa Medical Complex performed 10,825 surgeries during the first half of this year 2021, including 6038 major surgeries, 1890 caesarean sections, 491 laparoscopic surgeries, 1807 one-day surgeries, and “599” stone fragmentation operations.
The Director of the Surgery Hospital at Al-Shifa Medical Complex, Dr. Marwan Abu Saada indicated that despite the spread of Covid 19 pandemic and suffocating siege imposed on Gaza, they could professionally perform this large number of surgeries classified.
He said, in the past, many surgeries were carried out in partnership with specialized medical delegations coming from abroad, but today they are carried out by local staff, such as tumor surgeries, laparoscopic colon surgeries, pancreatic surgeries, and many complex fracture surgeries, as well as spine surgeries, endoscopic thoracic surgeries, cardiac surgeries, and many other complex surgeries. (L-K-G/RE1)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
