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Gaza: "War wounds test a poorly equipped health system"Interview with MSF's head of mission in the Palestinian Territories December 30, 2009
Palestinian Territories 2009 © Frederic Sautereau / Oeil Public In the Gaza Strip, MSF doctors perform surgery on an 18-month-old with burns to her arm. After last January's war, heightened medical and health needs prompted Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to expand its activities to address shortfalls in specific areas, including post-operative care, physical therapy, mental health care and surgery. Jean-Luc Lambert, MSF's head of mission for the Palestinian Territories, assesses the activities of this post-war year and MSF's plans for the future. 
Palestinian Territories 2009 © Frederic Sautereau / Oeil Public A 10-year-old injured during a bombing receives treatment from MSF doctors in the Gaza Strip. To meet the needs for post-operative care and physical therapy, MSF set up three clinics and organized eight mobile teams dedicated to those services, which improved patients' chances of recovering from surgery. In 2009, our teams treated 1,116 patients and conducted 54,609 treatment sessions. Adding a microbiology component was important to our post-operative program because antibiotic resistance is very high in Gaza. Having access to fast and effective laboratory tests allowed us to prescribe the proper medications and, in general, improve treatment for patients with infected wounds. The war's psychological effect was dramatic, particularly for children, and we had to expand our team of psychologists because of the inflow of patients. This year, we admitted 300 patients into our mental health program. We provided them a short course of treatment based on a maximum of 10 sessions. At their final session, 78 percent were assessed as 'recovered or recovering'. Fifty-seven and one-half percent of the patients participating in this program were under 12 years of age. In 2010, we will propose a plastic surgery program in cooperation with the ministry of health. We will work on a three-month rotational basis in a hospital in the north, another facility in the central region, and a third in the south. The waiting list already includes 55 patients. We expect that others will be referred by our own post-operative care program." Review of our emergency activities MSF responded immediately to Operation Cast Lead by providing support to Gaza hospitals and donating medical supplies and medications. Intense bombing and lack of security prevented our clinics from opening during the war. We provided some of our Palestinian staff with emergency medical kits so that they could offer treatment in their immediate neighborhood. Our Gaza City clinic remained open but few patients were able to reach medical facilities. On January 3, the security situation worsened as the land offensive and urban guerrilla fighting began. Israeli forces finally declared a ceasefire on the 18th. A surgical team and 21 tons of material, including two inflatable hospital tents, reached Gaza City. MSF decided to focus its activities on specialized and secondary surgery with five to eight operations per day. Some 332 additional patients were treated in our post-operative and physical therapy program. Mental health care was also expanded, specifically for aid workers, including ambulance drivers and first-aid providers, who were particularly exposed during the war.
Tags: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Gaza Strip |
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