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October 31, 2014

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`Diseases have become a way of life in

Gaza'

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Author(s): Kundan Pandey

@kundanmcu

Oct 31, 2014 | From the print edition

SPECIAL FEATURE

Born and raised in a refugee camp in Gaza, Izzeldin Abuelaish is a

Palestinian doctor who has worked for reconciliation between Israel and
Palestine. In January 2009 he lost three of his daughters in an air strike by
Israel. Instead of sinking into hatred, he wrote a memoir, I shall not hate,
which calls for peace in the region. His efforts won him humanitarian
awards. Abuelaish, who now works at Peter A Silverman Center for
International Health, Toronto, tells Kundan Pandey about Gaza's
crumbling health infrastructure. Edited excerpts
Gaza is recovering from 50 days of conflict
between Israel and the ruling Palestine

Hudhud aftermath

authority. What is the situation there?

Its terrible. No one can believe what is going on
here. How can they? Most people do not even
know what the Gaza Strip is like.
This 40-km-long, 9-km-wide region has a
Izzeldin Abuelaish

population of 1.8 million. This is one of the most

densely populated and impoverished areas in the

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FLOODS

Urban nightmare

world. Most people here are refugees, displaced from their homeland in
1948 (after Israel was formed). Half of the population is under 15 and about
20 per cent of women of reproductive age. But their life is under siege.
The region has faced three wars in the past six years. Over 2,000 civilians
were killed and another 11,000 wounded in the recent conflict in July and

Can the world

meet its hunger
reduction target?

August. Infrastructures like hospitals were targeted and damaged during

the conflict. It has created a rubble of over 2 million tonnes. The projection
is that rebuilding Gaza will take at least 20 years. Children disabled by the

J&K FLOODS

Flood Aftermath

war will remain disabled forever, making Gaza one of the most densely
populated places with disabled people.

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`Diseases have become a way of life in Gaza' | Down To Earth

2 of 4

The Gazans and Palestinians want to live like people in other countries. But
diseases and infertility have become a way of life here.

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/diseases-have-become-way-life-gaza

ARCHIVE

Growth at the
cost of
environment?

How does a war-like situation affect public health?

War is a torture on humanity. It kills people, damages infrastructure, trees,

MOST POPULAR

stones and everything that is crucial for ensuring food, clean water, health
and employment. Nothing is left for people after the war is over. Consider
Read

this.
The winter is approaching but many Palestinians are homeless. How can

Commented

1. Historically prone to cyclones

we expect a homeless person to be healthy? Water here is no more safe to

drink and will soon spread infectious diseases.

2. The myth of green building

Noncommunicable diseases are also on the rise. Many people in Gaza now

3. Cyclone threat possible this week

suffer from stress and hypertension. This is leading to several other chronic
diseases. Stress and infectious diseases are inducing premature labour
among women. Children traumatised by the conflicts are suffering from
nightmares. Violence and hatred have become predominant public health
issues in Gaza.

4. Innovation key to meet Aichi

biodiversity targets by 2020

5. Report accuses India-born

businessman of unchecked land
grabbing across continents

What kind of challenges do health- care providers face in Gaza? Are

they different from those in other war-torn areas like Syria and

6. Tropical storm Hudhud: Odisha puts

16 districts on high alert

Afghanistan?
In Gaza, the scale of carnage is unprecedented. This poses a challenge for
healthcare providers. The situation is more challenging because they have

7. Tropical storm Hudhud forms in Bay

of Bengal

to handle an emergency situation without basic facilities like electricity,

which is a must for conducting surgeries on the wounded, drugs for
medication and advance medical care and equipment. Even basic
requirements like blood and anaesthsia are in short-supply. And then
comes the crucial aspect: one needs safety while evacuating wounded
civilians. But no one is safe here.
Are international agencies like the UN, WHO, Medecins Sans
Frontieres and Red Cross able to bring about changes on the ground?
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Many international communities and organisations are working in Gaza. I

am sure they are doing their part. Yet, the situation remains bad. This is
because one needs to be pro-active in providing care even after the war.

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Most organisations extend their help during the emergency situation but
leave thereafter. This is like partial healing of a wound. It is important for
these organisations to rehabilitate the affected people. But rehabilitation
takes years.
How challenging is it to perform serious surgeries on conflict
victims? Is the existing healthcare system equipped enough to tackle
the challenges?
It is difficult to manage such patients in Gaza where means and resources
are limited.
This is the reason many countries are trying to
help wounded civilians by evacuating them and
shifting them to Egypt or Turkey or the West
Bank or other parts of the world. But those who
are severely injured cannot be transported, and
we do not have enough facilities to treat them.
Gaza has one major hospital, which has only
700 beds. The remaining are secondary
healthcare centres that cannot provide tertiary

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`Diseases have become a way of life in Gaza' | Down To Earth

3 of 4

Memoir by Abuelaish after

he lost three daughters in
an air strike on Gaza by
Israel

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/diseases-have-become-way-life-gaza

medical care. Besides, no hospital can handle

such huge number of patients who arrive in
groups of 15, 20 or 30. In each group, there
would be at least two to three severely injured
people. One may have a crushed arm while the
other may have a crushed leg. They need a

team of doctors who can perform lengthy, meticulous surgeries. It takes

10-15 hours to re-fix an arm. In the absence of facilities and due to lack of
time, the easiest option before doctors is amputation.
What needs to be done to improve the situation?
To begin with, the government should provide safe drinking water and
electricity to people. It should open the border in accordance with the
ceasefire deal. It also needs to rebuild houses and schools. But providing
safety to people should be the top priority of the government.
The government also needs to rebuild the crumbled public healthcare
facilities and arrange for reconstructive surgeries of people who have
sustained grave injuries in the conflict. It should also initiate rehabilitation
programmes for those suffering from mental health problems.
How do you find India's response in helping conflict-torn countries
manage their health crisis situation?
India is a great country. People in the country have faced many calamities
and disasters, and they have the experience to deal with such emergency
situation. We can learn from each others experiences. However, health
crisis cannot be managed only by health professionals. It depends on
several other stakeholders in conflicting parties. There is a need for
international community to come together and think how this crisis can be
managed. However, we do not want to manage health crisis. We want to
prevent it.
If something disastrous is going to happen, preventing it is the best way to
tackle it, not managing it.

Tags: Interview, Conflicts, Gaza, Health, Health care, Health personnel, Israel, Palestine, Print
edition

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