Fidaa Talal Hijjy, 18, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease in 2007. At first she was treated at Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, but with her health deteriorating, doctors told her she needed a bone marrow transplant – a procedure which is not available in the Gaza Strip.
Referred to Tel HaShomer Hospital in Israel on 20 August last year, Fidaa obtained an appointment for 23 September for a life-saving transplant, but the Israeli authorities did not respond to her application to cross into Israel, resulting in her missing the appointment.
As her health deteriorated further, she was given a new appointment for 20 October and submitted a new application to Israeli authorities to be able to enter Israel, but yet again, the Israeli authorities did not respond. Her last appointment was set on 9 November, but Israelis only responded three days later. By then, Fidaa had died.
“The day of the funeral we got a call from the Palestinian liaison office saying the Israelis agreed that we should make a fourth appointment,” Amal Hijjy, a relative of Fidaa, said. “I said there’s no need to make another appointment because the girl died yesterday.”
Fidaa is only one of hundreds of Gazans who are refused permission to travel to Israel or other third countries every month for life-saving medical treatment. Last year, 27 Palestinian patients died while waiting for Israeli permits.
Specialised operations such as Fidaa’s, complex heart surgery and treatment for certain types of cancer are not available in Gaza, and patients are referred for treatment outside, but Israeli authorities repeatedly deny or delay exit permits.
According to the World Health Organisation, out of 1,103 applications submitted for travel to Israel last December, 21% had their applications denied or delayed, forcing them to miss their hospital appointments and restart the referral process.
“If that happened in my country, in the UK, in Europe, in Israel, if an individual who needed urgent treatment was unable to get out because of a bureaucratic obstacle, it would be a scandal,” said the head of the World Health Organisation for the Palestinian Territories, Tony Laurance. “Here it happens to 300 or 400 people every month.”
He warned that while Gaza had a sophisticated health care system, this could not be sustained in isolation from the international community.
The Israeli closure of Gaza since Hamas seized power in mid 2007, coupled with last year’s military offensive, has led to a rapidly deteriorating health system. With limited supplies of drugs allowed into Gaza, there are often shortages of medicinals, while essential medical equipment such as x-ray machines, electronic devices and spare parts are next to impossible to bring in.
Even the ban on building materials is affecting essential health facilities – the new surgical wing in Gaza’s main Shifa hospital remains unfinished since 2006, while 15 of Gaza’s 27 hospitals and 43 of 110 primary health care facilities, damaged in the last war, cannot be rebuilt. Meanwhile, the blockade has kept doctors and nurses from pursuing advanced training.
Last Wednesday, the United Nations and over 80 international development agencies expressed their deep concern about the deteriorating situation in Gaza, calling yet again on Israel to lift the crippling blockade.
“We are deeply concerned about the current health system in Gaza and, in particular, its capacity and ability to deliver proper standards of health care to the people of Gaza,” UN Humanitarian Coordinator Max Gaylard said. “This adverse situation is not like Haiti. Haiti has been destroyed by an earthquake. The circumstances here are entirely man-made and can be fixed accordingly.”
Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below. Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.
Search:
MALTATODAY
BUSINESSTODAY
Download MaltaToday Sunday issue front page in pdf file format
