Four months of conflict in Gaza is jeopardising the health of thousands of people with chronic illnesses such as kidney disease, diabetes and asthma, doctors have warned.
The chronically ill are the hidden casualties of the war, as access to water, food and medicine is severely restricted, said Guillemette Thomas, the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medical coordinator for Palestine.
“hospitals that are still functioning are overwhelmed with injured people, they are not able to deal with chronic illness at all,” she said. “before the war there were 3,500 hospital beds in gaza, now there are fewer than 1,000, and hundreds and hundreds of injured. we don’t know how many people are dying because they can’t access healthcare.”
currently, only 14 of gaza’s 36 hospitals are able to provide any medical service
when medication is allowed into the territory there are no safe ways of distributing it, thomas said. “we have some insulin coming in aid trucks, but patients can’t get to the places where it is stocked because of the airstrikes. people are bombed on their way to the hospital.”
The scarcity of clean water combined with the lack of medicines means many are unable to control their conditions. About 70% of Palestinians in Gaza have had to resort to drinking contaminated or salinised water, while 50% are experiencing food insecurity and 25% of the population are starving, according to the UN.
“There are no water distribution points – even they have been bombed. Water pipes, streets and infrastructures are destroyed,” said Youssef Al-Khishawi, an MSF sanitation agent.