OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The World Health Organization said a shortage of medicines required in the Gaza Strip poses a threat to the survival of hospitals there.
A memorandum by the WHO's Jerusalem branch pointed out that 38 per cent of basic medicines were out of stock in the strip in early 2011, adding that 40 per cent of primary health care services and 80 per cent of services offered by hospitals have been affected as a result.
Detailing the shortage's effects, the WHO said out of the 260 cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, 100 are not able to receive treatment because it requires the collaboration of several medicines to be effective.
It said oncologists there said large numbers of patients have not received normal treatment, with several already having died and others having tried to get treatment abroad.
It went on to say that the absence of antibiotics at the strip's largest medical center Sheikh Radwan in Gaza city has rendered it impossible to treat basic illnesses like diarrhea, pneumonia and skin infections.
Drugs necessary for the treatment of asthma are no longer available in the strip's central warehouses, the statement says. Some hospitals have been forced to reuse consumable medical supplies to treat patients, it adds.
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