The healthcare situation on the ground in Gaza is deteriorating. Our colleagues on the ground are reporting dire circumstances for staff and patients.
Over the last 24 hours - 150 Palestinians have been killed. Approximately 400 wounded.
MSF - On 8/1/24 - 600 healthcare workers and wounded from Al Aqsa hospital in Central Gaza were evacuated due to shelling. Staff from MSF and MAP have had to be evacuated due to the risk to life of their staff. The shelter healthcare workers were staying in was shelled resulting in a 5 year old daughter of a staff member being critically ill. She died the next day.
In the last 24 hours electricity has been been turned off to Al-Aqsa hospital due to fuel depletion from restriction to entry of aid into Gaza. Volunteer healthcare workers have remained despite the evacuation orders to tend to the wounded and the injured who are unable to be evacuated. This includes 3 critically unwell newborns in the paediatric intensive care.
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Water - There is not sanitation in Gaza. Staff from MSF and MAP have reported that the availability of water is less than 3L per person ( recommended 15L for sanitation, nutrition, cooking, basic needs). Israel turning off the tap of water running to Gaza along with destruction of desalination stations and solar panels rendering clean water scarce. Dirty insufficient drinking water means diarrhoeal diseases, malnutrition, post op sepsis and more.
Schooling - 100% of children have been without education or formal schooling.
Killed: 23,469 - 70% women and children. over 10,000 children
Injured: 59,604 - Most will almost certainly die from their injuries secondary to sepsis, malnutrition, lack of after care, no sanitisation or clean drinking water amongst other reasons.
Missing under the rubble: approx 7,000
Mental health - 100% of patients, staff and civilians in Gaza are severely traumatised. Mental health is under-recognised, untreated and exacerbated during war. Prior to this violence one healthcare unit serving the mental health needs of the 2.2 million population of Gazareported 500,000 patients on their books. 25% of the besieged Gaza population requiring mental health treatment from one unit. This unit was destroyed and therefore there is no mental health input as scarce healthcare workers prioritise life saving treatment right now.
Nutrition: 90% children under 2 years of age experiencing 'severe food poverty' consuming only one or two food groups. There are documented cases of Kwashiorkor amongst children. 50% of children suffer from diarrhoeal illnesses resulting in malabsorption confounding malnutrition.
Amputations and disability: I have seen reliable figures for child amputations. 1,000 children are missing one or two of their limbs. Approx 10 children a day are undergoing amputations without adequate aneasthetia, pain relief or aftercare. Many of the wounded have no access to healthcare, physicians, or long term care for their chronic conditions ( eg strokes, heart attacks, chronic respiratory diseases, dialysis, cancer). This means that many of the wounder or chronically ill will almost certainly die.
Ambulances: There are only 6 functioning ambulances remaining in Gaza.
This systematic disablement of the healthcare system, along with killing, abduction and torturing of the healthcare staff is targeted is intended to collapse the healthcare system to make Gaza unliveable.
I have no words that can speak louder or clearer than these dire statistics. I will just keep reporting these and amplifying the voice of my heroic colleagues and people of Gaza.
Sources: WHO, MSF, MAP, interviews by recently evacuated healthcare professionals from Gaza