Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

FROM THE FIELD

Gaza: 70% of patients with chronic illness missing treatment
26 Jan 2009 17:56:17 GMT
 Source: Merlin - UK
218926 logo

Background

•  Israeli-Palestinian conflict

MORE >>
Health workers based in Gaza are increasingly concerned about the interruption of medical treatment for people suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart conditions.

23 days of violence between Hamas and Israel damaged 26 primary health care clinics and eight hospitals, leaving many people unable to receive the follow-up treatment they desperately need.

Seeking medical treatment is also increasinly difficult given the devastation wreaked by the conflict - over 50,000 people have lost their homes and are living in temporary shelters.

What is being done?

As a fragile ceasefire holds, primary health care is resuming. Health staff are working around the clock to ensure chronic disease is managed and doesn’t lead to further loss of life.

Agencies within the Disasters Emergency Committee are:

• Providing drugs for chronic diseases
• Working to secure exit for severely ill patients
• Providing ambulance services to transport patients from overcrowded wards
• Supporting health workers operating under extreme pressure

Merlin’s Emergency Team Manager for Health, Paula Sansom said:

"Merlin’s priority is to help reactivate and improve access to health care as soon as possible. Without it, people in Gaza are exposed and vulnerable. We must ensure that people suffering from chronic disease get the treatment they need. Funding for the Disasters Emergency Committee will allow Merlin and other agencies to tackle this threat head on."

 To donate to the DEC Gaza Appeal, please click here or phone 0370 60 60 900.

 Help us save more lives: Please donate to Merlin now

 Find out more about our work in the Palestinian Territories




[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

Email this article       Send comments

Emergencies

•  Israeli-Palestinian conflict

MORE >>

Members

•  Merlin - UK

MORE >>

NGO latest

•  Gaza: 70% of patients with chronic illness missing treatment
Merlin - UK

•  Gaza: "People still look at the sky", report ACT medical workers
ACT - Switzerland

•  MAG responds to Gaza crisis
MAG - UK

•  Gaza Aid Worker Diary
Islamic Relief - UK

•  Gaza: hope emerges despite urgent needs
Red Cross - UK

MORE >>

Latest news

•  DAVOS-Kofi Annan warns against blinkers in crisis

•  US Middle East peace envoy heads to region Monday

•  FEATURE-Hamas gives cash to Gazans, but less than promised

•  U.S. Middle East peace envoy heads to region Monday

•  Hamas, Fatah hold reconciliation talks in Egypt

MORE >>

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

Background information

Briefings
Israeli-Palestinian conflict - [Who works where]

Statistics graphs
Human development index ranking (2005)
Chart for Human development index ranking
View more stats

Related articles

Breaking stories
 DAVOS-Kofi Annan warns against blinkers in crisis (1 minute ago)

US Middle East peace envoy heads to region Monday (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
 IN THEIR OWN WORDS: Aid workers assess Gaza crisis (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
 Gaza: 70% of patients with chronic illness missing treatment (1 minute ago)

Blogs
 BBC should overturn its refusal to show Gaza appeal (1 minute ago)

Maps
 Gaza - Post-Shelling Satellite Overview of UNRWA HQ (1 minute ago)


Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-01-26T161653Z_01_JER25_RTRIDSP_2_PALESTINIANS-ISRAEL_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/JER25.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-01-26T161504Z_01_JER24_RTRIDSP_2_PALESTINIANS-ISRAEL_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/JER24.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-01-26T143137Z_01_JER12_RTRIDSP_2_PALESTINIANS-ISRAEL_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/JER12.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-01-26T142455Z_01_JER17_RTRIDSP_2_PALESTINIANS-ISRAEL_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/JER17.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-01-26T141637Z_01_JER15_RTRIDSP_2_PALESTINIANS-ISRAEL_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/JER15.htm

Trucks carrying medical equipment donated by Jordan cross into the Gaza Strip through the Erez border crossing January 26, 2009. Some 1,300 Palestinians, including at least 700 civilians, were killed, Palestinian ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Mon Jan 26 17:57:01 2009