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Children’s health services in Gaza’s devastated hospital infrastructure should be prioritised as medical volunteers look to rebuild operations after 15 months of conflict.
With more than 110,000 people injured in relentless bombing raids, medics are struggling to cope with only half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals partially operational.
According to the World Health Organisation, nearly all hospitals have been destroyed or badly damaged, and just one in three primary healthcare centres is functional.
“One of the highest priorities is getting these hospitals back into the level of being able to care for the majority of patients,” said Steve Sosebee, co-founder and executive director of Heal Palestine – a non-governmental organisation supporting health services in Gaza.
orthopaedic surgeon
“It's absolutely critical that children get their care in Gaza, because the scale is so immense,” he told The National before speaking at a Heal Palestine event in Al Quoz, Dubai, on Tuesday.
“There's no way to bring 10,000 injured children out of Gaza for medical care.
“There are a huge number of casualties and children who are suffering from horrific amputations, burns and injuries.”
Building on hope
The ceasefire has brought a faint glimmer of hope to the 30,000 or so who will require continuing rehabilitation for their life-changing injuries. “There are thousands of children needing medical care they can't get locally,” Mr Sosebee said.
“The ceasefire gives us a little bit of a respite when it comes to survival. We have medical missions going into Palestine and we are planning to go to Gaza.”
The closed borders and restrictions on doctors entering Gaza during the last 15 months made the situation worse, he said. “If these restrictions are lifted, it would make it a lot easier for organisations to send doctors to Gaza,” said Mr Sosebee, who is also founder of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, an organisation that has helped the children of Gaza hasfor 30 years.
“Let's hope this ceasefire is going to last.”
Widespread destruction
The ceasefire brought an end to bombing raids caused by a Hamas attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people on October 7, 2023. Since then, much of Gaza has been destroyed, and 47,100 Palestinians killed.
According to the WHO, specialised health care is largely unavailable, and medical evacuations abroad are extremely slow. Transmission of infectious diseases has increased, malnutrition is rising, and the risk of famine persists.
Health mission
Dr Marc Sinclair, who has been visiting Gaza twice a year for 12 years, is planning to return to the enclave to resume work and ideally develop prosthetics inside the territory.
“We are partnering with the PCRF to work on opening a centre for amputees in which patients will be assessed and amputations revised if necessary, and prosthetics provided,” said Dr Sinclair, who works at Mediclinic Parkview hospital in Dubai.
“There are more than 10,000 children with single or multiple limb amputations, and these will require treatment.”
Before the October 7 attacks, the Little Wings Foundation had been working in Gaza for more than 10 years in partnership with the PCRF, providing orthopaedic care for congenital conditions, amputations and traumatic amputations.
Dr Sinclair was part of a team of six UAE medics evacuated from Gaza in May 2023 after air strikes intensified.
“The workshop is likely to be established first in the West Bank with providing care to children there and after negotiations hopefully also in Gaza. Eventually, we would like our prosthetics production to be shifted to Gaza as soon as possible. Currently, we are not able to bring the materials required to make prosthetics into Gaza.
“We have the expertise and feel that this is where our orthopaedic foundation essentially can contribute most.”
