The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recognised Medical Aid for Palestinians’ (MAP) significant contribution to Gaza’s health system during this summer’s bombardment. In a report, which reveals that MAP provided more aid to hospitals than any other international organisation during the crisis, the WHO described the response from the international community as crucial to the survival of the health system.
With MAP, the WHO was among the first to raise the alarm about Gaza’s health services when attacks started. On 10 July 2014, the WHO raised concern about the impact of the attacks on the health system, ‘given the high levels of shortages of medicines, medical disposables and hospital fuel supplies, and rising health care debt.’
With the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH), the WHO called for local and international NGOs to aid them in their work to protect the health and welfare of Palestinians during the emergency. MAP were one of the first to respond and this report shows that we gave more aid than any other NGO.
During the attacks, MAP delivered more than $490,000 worth of supplies to hospitals including medicines such as essential antibiotics, anaesthetics and analgesics and surgical items such as gauze, gloves and breathing tubes. This was on top of our other work providing ongoing support to existing partners and distributing emergency kits to families who had been displaced from their homes by the attacks.
MAP’s CEO, Tony Laurance, said he was happy MAP’s hard work was acknowledged: ‘Our teams in Gaza and the West Bank worked incredibly hard during attacks coordinating the delivery of essential supplies to hospitals and distributing aid to families – all while the bombs were falling around them. I’m very glad the significant efforts of our teams and our supporters, who made this all possible, have been shown in this report’.
In the report, the WHO praises the work of doctors in MAP’s partner hospital, Al Shifa. Dr.Alwan, the WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, congratulated the hospital directors for being able to maintain effective emergency services, even when 240 seriously injured patients arrived at the same time: “Their heroic efforts and highly professional work are greatly appreciated.”
MAP is continuing to work in Gaza, providing additional support to our existing partners and delivering tailored programmes to respond to the crisis. One of these is our programme sending doctors to Gaza from the UK to carry out complex surgeries on patients who sustained the most serious injuries during attacks.
Read the WHO report here