Struggling hospitals across Gaza will receive critical support through a new package of UK aid, which will provide urgently needed medicines and surgical supplies.
The funding, confirmed by the International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt, will help to keep Gaza’s hospitals functioning as they face increasing demand from the number of trauma patients.
Hospitals in Gaza are under extreme pressure, after trauma patients requiring treatment increased month-on-month to more than 29,000 over the last year. Rising demands on hospitals have reduced general access to healthcare, with consistent shortages of medicines and supplies leading to increased rates of infection, and a growing risk of amputations and antibiotic resistance.
“The UK is deeply concerned by the crisis in Gaza and the pressure it is putting on hospitals, which are now near breaking point. The UK aid funding announced today will help treat the growing number of emergency patients and provide urgently needed medicines, surgical supplies and rehabilitation. Our support has consistently provided assistance to meet the basic needs of people in Gaza. UK aid has helped prevent the spread of disease and given people access to healthcare, clean water and sanitation. It also recently provided a package of emergency food supplies for more than 62,000 Palestinian refugees at risk of going hungry,” said International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt.
UK aid will support the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) to deliver urgently needed surgical equipment, medicines, wound dressing kits, prosthetic limbs and post-surgery physiotherapy. It will also help to provide physical rehabilitation services for up to 3,000 disabled people.
Original source: DFID
Published on 28 March 2019
