Palestinian officials at the Ministry of Health in Gaza have warned of the worsening humanitarian and health crisis, following the recording of new cases of meningitis, amid a severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies.
The director of the Children’s Hospital at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, Ahmad Al-Farra, said that the hospital recorded over the past two days 9 cases of infection with the disease, including the case of the child Eileen Asfour, who died after her health condition deteriorated.
Al-Farra warned of the risk of the disease spreading inside the tents of displaced people, due to severe overcrowding and deteriorating health conditions, which creates a fertile environment for the spread of epidemics.
Meningitis is a serious inflammation that affects the three membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. It is most often caused by a viral or bacterial infection (meningococci), and is considered a medical emergency that may cause death or permanent disabilities (such as deafness and brain damage) within hours. Its most prominent symptoms include severe headache, fever, and neck stiffness.
In turn, the director of Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital in Gaza, Jamil Suleiman, said that the recording of cases of meningococcal meningitis in the southern part of the Strip warns of the transmission of infection to its northern part, in light of a deteriorated health situation and extremely dangerous medical conditions.
He added that the nature of the disease and the speed of its spread in overcrowded environments, along with displacement and forced movement, make any infection hotspot a direct threat to all areas of the Strip.
Suleiman pointed out that the health system is suffering from severe depletion of capabilities, and a shortage of staff and supplies, which limits hospitals’ ability to deal with any potential epidemic outbreak.
He confirmed that the absence of laboratory tests and the medicines necessary to treat meningococcal meningitis could lead to the situation spiraling out of control, calling for the matter to be treated as an urgent public health emergency.
In the same context, the director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, Mohammad Abu Salmiya, described the health situation in Gaza as having reached its worst stage since the start of the war of genocide, warning that more than 70% of medicines have run out, including life-saving types, as a result of the tightened siege and the prevention of the entry of medical supplies.
Abu Salmiya explained that hospitals are operating with the lowest possible capacities, at a time when the number of patients is increasing due to the spread of epidemics and seasonal viruses, which have claimed the lives of children and the elderly in recent days.
He added that medical teams continue their work despite direct targeting, pointing to the killing of about 1,600 workers in the health sector and the arrest of hundreds, and affirming that “the humanitarian duty toward their people” is what drives them to continue.
Abu Salmiya called on the international community to take urgent action to exert pressure to allow the entry of medicines and medical supplies, warning of the fall of more victims who could have been saved if the crossings were opened.
The health sector is currently operating through only 16 hospitals with limited operational capacity, after 22 hospitals went out of service due to destruction, in addition to the destruction of 103 primary healthcare centers, which has deprived hundreds of thousands of access to basic services.
The ambulance system has also suffered extensive damage, including the bombing of 211 ambulances and the destruction of 25 oxygen generation stations out of 35, at a time when stocks of blood group materials have declined by 90%, threatening the lives of the wounded and patients in emergency and intensive care units.
Source: The Palestinian Information Center
