PA cuts off medical supplies to Gaza

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority has stopped sending medical supplies and baby formula to the hospitals in the Gaza Strip, an official at the health ministry in Gaza announced today.

Munir Al-Barsh, director of the ministry’s pharmaceutical department in Gaza, said that the ministry recently informed them that it would no longer supply Gaza with its share of drugs and baby milk.

Barsh pointed out that the decision was politically-motivated, adding that he had been in contact with senior officials in the Health Ministry in the West Bank to “determine the meaning of the decision and how long it will be in effect.”

He warned of the decision’s “catastrophic” impacts on the health situation in Gaza. “This is a decision that has destructive implications for the residents [of Gaza], and in particular for the chronically ill and children,” he said.

Although large quantities of medicines, including Gaza’s share, recently entered the health ministry’s warehouses in Ramallah and Nablus, a serious shortage of medicines has developed in recent days in Gaza as hospitals have not been supplied with drugs for over three months, according to Barsh.

The ministry official stressed that the enclave’s hospitals have reported that they ran out 175 medicines’ types, 17 of which treat cancer patients. “Ninety per cent of cancer patients have no drugs today in Gaza, and many patients will need to go to Israel to receive their doses,” Barsh warned.

Barsh called on the World Health Organisation (WHO) and international intuitions to intervene “before crisis escalate.”

Gaza residents have been placed under an Israeli siege for over 10 years, with most of the city’s crossings closed, preventing goods and aids from entering the Strip.