ROMA – In Gaza the team of Emergency began health activities in a field clinic set up in the so-called “humanitarian area” of al-Mawasi. In the structure of the Palestinian association CFTA (Culture & Free Thought Association) the staff of the Organization founded by Gino Strada and Teresa Sarti carries out an average of visits for 160 patients per day. “One in three is a child – says Giorgio Monti, medical coordinator in the Strip – many suffer from respiratory, gastrointestinal, skin diseases . There are also many chronic patients who have remained without treatment for months. One in 10 patients is malnourished.”
The new Emergency clinic in Khan Younis. In the meantime, to begin the construction of a new clinic in the Khan Younis area, we continue to await confirmation from the Israeli armed forces of the absence of conflicts, i.e. the recognition by the Israeli armed forces that the chosen area is and will be excluded from military activities.
The health needs are enormous, the conditions of the population unsustainable. The local hospitals that are still operational, in addition to not having the necessary staff and medicines, are often overcrowded: in the lack of other structures, patients also turn to hospitals for needs that could be treated on an outpatient basis. The situation in the Gaza Strip is critical and the population is truly exhausted: in addition to the lack of health services, the scarcity of water, food and housing weighs heavily.
L’ambulatorio ad Al-Mawasi. Recently opened, an EMERGENCY team offers medical and logistical support to a primary health center in the Al-Mawasi area, in the south of the Strip, managed – as mentioned – by the CFTA association (Culture & Free Thought Association), an independent and local NGO that has been working in Gaza since 1991 to provide assistance to the Palestinian population on various fronts: from cultural and educational to social and healthcare. Here patients can receive free basic care, medicines and dressings needed following surgery.
An immense expanse of camps for displaced people. The Al-Mawasi area, once a coastal area characterized by the presence of clubs and in any case where a normal daily life took place, is now an immense expanse of camps for displaced people living in tents. “The population gets by in very difficult conditions, with needs that affect all aspects of life. From the health one, to the economic one, to the social one”, testifies Stefano Sozza, head of mission of EMERGENCY in Gaza
How to guarantee business continuity. The humanitarian organization also manages the complete supply of the necessary material to ensure the continuity of activities. In the first week of activity, more than 800 patients were seen. A third are children. Many respiratory tract infections, gastrointestinal diseases, chronic diseases and skin diseases are treated.
The beginning of work in the Strip. Our Emergency team entered the Gaza Strip last August, when work began on the construction of the new clinic in the Khan Younis area. In the new structure it will be possible to guarantee first aid, the stabilization of medical-surgical emergencies and transfer to other possible hospital facilities. And again: basic medical-surgical assistance for adults and children, reproductive health outpatient activities and post-operative nursing treatment.
Difficulties in access for humanitarian organizations. The possibility of bringing aid to the Strip must deal with major limitations in the access of humanitarian organizations, with difficult security conditions and with an increasingly restricted guaranteed humanitarian space, we read in a document released by Emergency.
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