Decades of underfunding, blockade have weakened Gaza's health system − the siege has pushed it into abject crisis
On Oct. 17, 2023, news broke that at least 500 patients, staff and people seeking shelter from Israeli bombs had been killed in an explosion at a hospital, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave.
- On Oct. 17, 2023, news broke that at least 500 patients, staff and people seeking shelter from Israeli bombs had been killed in an explosion at a hospital, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave.
- It amounts to a devastating loss of life during a campaign of bombing that has not spared the frail or sick.
- Insufficiently and poorly resourced for decades, doctors and hospitals also had to contend with the devastating effects of a 16-year blockade imposed by Israel, in part with coordination with Egypt.
A system completely overwhelmed
- Hospitals in Gaza are completely overwhelmed.
- They are seeing around 1,000 new patients per day, in a health system with only 2,500 hospital beds for a population of over 2 million people.
- People maimed in the bombing are being treated for horrific injuries without basics such as gauze dressings, antiseptic, IV bags and painkillers.
- The U.N. estimates this fuel will run out any day due to a complete siege placed on Gaza by Israel.
A century of underfunding
- But Gaza’s health care system was already under stress before the latest bombardment.
- In fact, policies that stretch back decades have left it unable to meet even the basic health needs of Gaza’s residents, let alone respond to the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.
- What each have had in common is that, from my perspective as a global health expert, they invested little in Palestinian health.
- For periods of the 20th century, the health priorities of successive governing bodies appeared focused more on reducing the spread of communicable disease to protect foreigners interacting with the native Palestinian population.
Dying before they can leave
- Since then, chronic underfunding of public hospitals has meant that Palestinians in Gaza have remained reliant on outside money and nongovernmental organizations for essential health services.
- During the passage of the Oslo Accords in the mid-1990s, the Palestinian Authority was established to administer services in the occupied territories.
- The Palestinian Authority received a significant influx of humanitarian aid as it took on civil responsibilities, including health.
- As a result, health indicators for Palestinians, including life expectancy and immunization rates, started to improve in the late 1990s.
Gaza health services after the siege
- This vulnerable health system is now facing unprecedented challenges, staffed by health professionals who have committed to stay with their patients even under hospital evacuation orders and at risk of death.
- It is uncertain what the health system of Gaza will look like in the future.
- Already at least 28 doctors and other health workers have been killed in Gaza, with ambulances and a number of hospitals rendered useless by the bombs.