Director of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza 5 400 cancer patients need treatment abroad

The director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza, Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya, confirmed that the health situation in the Gaza Strip is deteriorating due to the ongoing siege and shortage of medicines. He indicated that Gaza is suffering from a shortage of approximately 50% of essential medicines, 70% of medical supplies, 84% of laboratory equipment, and 80% of the chemotherapy drugs needed to treat cancer patients.

In a statement, Abu Salmiya explained that 20,000 wounded and sick Palestinians in Gaza require treatment abroad, including 5,400 cancer patients. He stressed the urgent need for the medical evacuation of these patients to receive treatment as soon as possible, in addition to the lack of diagnostic equipment necessary for early cancer detection.

He pointed out that Palestinian hospitals are recording daily deaths among cancer patients due to the lack of treatment or the failure to evacuate them for treatment. He further explained that 4,500 children also need treatment outside Gaza, along with hundreds of critical cases requiring complex surgeries abroad. Abu Salmiya revealed that 1,300 wounded individuals have died due to being denied medical evacuation, emphasizing that the number of wounded being allowed to leave for treatment abroad via the Rafah border crossing is extremely low.

The director of Al-Shifa Hospital called on the international community to intervene to facilitate the evacuation of a greater number of patients and wounded individuals, and to allow the entry of sufficient quantities of medicine so that medical teams can treat the sick and wounded.