Dr. Ammar Darwish, a major trauma surgeon from Manchester, England, went to Gaza in January 2024 and returned again in August as part of a program called “Medical Aid for Palestine.” He is calling on the British government to accept patients who need intense or specialized treatments, force an immediate ceasefire, and open aid corridors. He reports that of the 36 hospitals in Gaza, only 17 are open, and that they are overcrowded, understaffed, lack medical necessities, and are limited to treating a number of medical conditions. Many physicians and surgeons report that even when they cure patients’ diseases, 50% will still die within a week, because they are so weak from malnutrition that their bodies are unable to recuperate. The three big public health problems are malnutrition, lack of clean water, and worsening sanitation.
He said that the only positive medical news in Gaza is that there is an effective campaign to vaccinate children for poliomyelitis, but he said that the brutal reality is that a child can be vaccinated in the morning, but become a war casualty in the afternoon.
Dr. Ana Jeelani, a pediatric surgeon from Liverpool, also volunteered in Gaza in March and complained that the British government has failed to recognize the “actual concerns that we have as humanitarian aid workers.” She said, “I work in a trust that openly accepted Ukrainian refugees and provided them cancer care, [National Health Service] care, and we have been told that we cannot accept patients from Gaza because the government has not allowed this.”
