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8,515 cancer patients in Gaza

February 5, 2019 at 2:23 pm

A hospital in Gaza [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

The number of cancer patients in the Gaza Strip has risen to 8,515, including 608 children, the Palestinian Ministry of Health revealed in its latest statistics.

Patients’ suffering is compounded by the permanent shortage of equipment, drugs and medical supplies as a result of Israel’s stifling 12-year siege of  the enclave.

Some 4,705 women are amongst the cancer patients in the Strip, making up 55.3% of the total number of cases, the figures show.

There was a 58 per cent deficit in the drugs needed to treat cancer and blood disease patients in the Strip in 2018. These included 65 medicines, the ministry added.

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