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🔴 Drop Site spoke with Dr. Mimi Syed, a U.S.-based physician who has volunteered in Gaza multiple times and has been briefing international bodies and U.S. lawmakers on Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe and the collapse of its health system under Israel’s siege.
The Gaza Health Ministry warned this Thursday that catastrophic shortages after two years of war are pushing hospitals past the point of failure. Israel is allowing less than 30% of required medical aid trucks into Gaza, despite the ceasefire that mandated full access, the ministry said. The office is calling for urgent international intervention to prevent mass loss of life.
Key details:
▪️ Medicines: 321 essential drugs completely out of stock (52% shortage).
▪️ Medical supplies: 710 items unavailable (71% shortage).
▪️ Labs & blood banks: 59% of essential tests unavailable.
▪️ Emergency & ICU: 38% shortfall, risking denial of care to 200,000 emergency patients, 100,000 surgical patients, and 700 ICU patients.
▪️ Dialysis: 650 patients affected, requiring 7,823 sessions per month.
▪️ Cancer care: 70% of oncology drugs unavailable. 1,000 patients deprived of treatment. Some have already died. Even pain relief is unavailable.
▪️ Primary care: 62% of medicines missing, placing 288,208 patients at risk of strokes and heart attacks with no treatment available.
▪️ Cardiac care: Catheterization and open-heart surgery fully halted.
▪️ Orthopedics: 99% of scheduled surgeries stopped.
▪️ Eye care: Specialized surgeries near shutdown. Basic exam drugs unavailable.
▪️ Labs: Life-saving tests, including CBCs, electrolytes, blood typing, and cultures, unavailable.
Dr. Syed says the shortages are the direct and foreseeable outcome of sustained restrictions on essential life-saving medical aid entering Gaza.