PA accused of halting medical shipments to Gaza

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has stopped sending medicines to the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Health in Gaza claimed yesterday, noting this caused acute medical shortages, Al-Wattan Voice reported.

Director General of Pharmacies in the Ministry of Health Munir Al-Borsh said: “The ministry in Gaza has not received any medicine from Ramallah [PA] since the start of this year,” noting that 48 per cent of medicines have run out in the Strip.

He also said that 249 basic medicines are  no longer available in Gaza and 79 kinds of medical supplies related to cancer and blood diseases are also unavailable, stating this is putting patient care at risk.

However, the spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Ramallah Osama Al-Najjar denied that a decision had been made to stop sending medicines to Gaza.

“Due to the huge debts owed to the medical companies, they suspended supplies of medication to the ministry, causing a crisis in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,” he said.

READ: Gaza suffering severe medicine crisis