Shortages of supplies and travel complications: Heart patients in Gaza face the risk of death

Heart patients in the Gaza Strip, like other patients, face the risk of death due to the lack of necessary treatment and the inability of urgent cases to travel outside the Strip for treatment.

The suffering of 78-year-old Salma Abu Nadi, who has been bedridden for two months awaiting a pacemaker, is worsening. She says she is unable to move and is forced to remain lying on her back.

Salma’s daughter says her mother’s life depends on the pacemaker, and if it is not available in the Strip, she will die.

Specialized cardiac catheterization centers in the Gaza Strip ceased operations due to the Israeli aggression, leaving only one center at Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City.

Majed Shanat, a cardiology consultant at Al-Quds Hospital, describes the situation as catastrophic. He points out that the Strip was already suffering from a shortage of essential supplies for treating patients, especially heart patients, even before the war. He notes that the only available equipment can only handle four or five patients daily.

With limited resources and the unavailability of treatment, heart patients face complications in traveling abroad for treatment. This is the case for Mustafa Madi, whose heart stopped twice in two months while he was waiting to travel. According to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, heart disease now accounts for more than 56% of deaths, with five medical centers closed, open-heart surgeries suspended, and cardiac catheterization equipment and stents unavailable.

The suffering of these patients is exacerbated by the Israeli occupation’s obstruction of the entry of essential supplies and the evacuation of patients for treatment.

Despite the ceasefire, the Gaza Strip is witnessing a silent humanitarian tragedy, as patients and the injured die slowly amidst the near-total collapse of the healthcare system and the ongoing Israeli siege and bombardment of various areas of the Strip.