Cash-strapped Gaza hospital cuts dialysis, cancer treatments (4 Die)
Last update - 22:18 09/05/2006
By Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondent
At least four people suffering from kidney diseases died in the Gaza Strip in April, after the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority Health Ministry cut the Shifa Hospital's budget for the necessary dialysis treatments.
"There are 650 people suffering from kidney diseases in the Gaza Strip, and 300 of them are treated at Shifa Hospital," hospital spokesman Dr. Guma'a Al-Saka said Tuesday. "However, since the end of March, was forced to reduce their treatments from three per week to two, and at least four people did not survive the reduction."
According to Al-Saka, the hospital's oncology and cardiology departments are facing similar problems.
"The doctors and nurses come to work and try to treat patients the best they can, but the hospital has two weeks worth of medical supplies and lacks the means with which to fix broken machines. It's unclear if we'll get additional financing and we have been forced to reduce our services," he said.
Kidney ailments are not the only diseases going untreated, according to the doctor, who said that some cancer patients have stopped receiving chemotherapy and other vital drugs due to money and equipment shortages.
"The only parts of the hospital that are fully functioning are those related to emergency and life-saving medicine," said al-Saka.
Physicians for Human Rights - Israel warned Tuesday of the impending collapse of Palestinian health services in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The organization called on the Israeli government to end the closure on the territories and to stop preventing Palestinians from reaching hospitals in East Jerusalem and elsewhere in Israel, or from receiving treatment abroad.
Link Here
Palestine on the brink of collapse
By Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondent
At least four people suffering from kidney diseases died in the Gaza Strip in April, after the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority Health Ministry cut the Shifa Hospital's budget for the necessary dialysis treatments.
"There are 650 people suffering from kidney diseases in the Gaza Strip, and 300 of them are treated at Shifa Hospital," hospital spokesman Dr. Guma'a Al-Saka said Tuesday. "However, since the end of March, was forced to reduce their treatments from three per week to two, and at least four people did not survive the reduction."
According to Al-Saka, the hospital's oncology and cardiology departments are facing similar problems.
"The doctors and nurses come to work and try to treat patients the best they can, but the hospital has two weeks worth of medical supplies and lacks the means with which to fix broken machines. It's unclear if we'll get additional financing and we have been forced to reduce our services," he said.
Kidney ailments are not the only diseases going untreated, according to the doctor, who said that some cancer patients have stopped receiving chemotherapy and other vital drugs due to money and equipment shortages.
"The only parts of the hospital that are fully functioning are those related to emergency and life-saving medicine," said al-Saka.
Physicians for Human Rights - Israel warned Tuesday of the impending collapse of Palestinian health services in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The organization called on the Israeli government to end the closure on the territories and to stop preventing Palestinians from reaching hospitals in East Jerusalem and elsewhere in Israel, or from receiving treatment abroad.
Link Here
Palestine on the brink of collapse
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