page_title: Effects of the Gaza War (2008–2009)
section_title: Medical facilities and equipment
hierarchical_section_title: Effects of the Gaza War (2008–2009) / Gaza humanitarian crisis / Health / Medical facilities and equipment
caption_attribution_description: Bombed out ambulance, Gaza Strip, April 2009
context_page_description: There are multiple humanitarian, medical, economic, and industrial effects of the 2008–2009 Gaza War which started with the Israeli air strikes on 27 December 2008 and ended on 18 January with a cease-fire implemented unilaterally by Israel, and later the same day by Hamas and other Palestinian factions. The cease-fire followed twenty-two days of bombardment by land, sea and air which left over 1,300 Palestinians dead and over 5,000 injured, and the death of 13 Israelis. The United Nations Development Programme warned that there will be long-term consequences of the attacks on Gaza because the livelihoods and assets of tens of thousands of Gaza civilians have been affected.
context_section_description: Weakened by the eighteen-month Blockade of the Gaza Strip, as of 31 December the central drug store reported that 105 drugs and 255 medical supplies of the essential drug and supplies list are still unavailable, and approximately 20 percent of the ambulances were grounded due to lack of spare parts. Ambulances are experiencing difficulties in reaching the injured because of continuous fire. Hospitals reporting severe gas shortages expect total depletion in the coming days. As a result of shortages, the WFP distributed canned meat and high energy biscuits. The World Health Organization reported that at least 1,000 medical machines were out of order, with shortage of equipment and spare parts. Sources from the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that the situation on 2 January, while extremely precarious, has stabilized after the arrival of medical supplies.
  From 4 January, all of Gaza City hospitals were without main electricity, depending on back-up generators that were close to collapse. From 4 to 5 January, UNRWA was forced to shut down 19 health centers due to hostilities in the area, and Ministry of Health closed down generators at ambulance stations, vaccine stores, labs and warehouses due to the lack of fuel to run the generators until more was delivered. There existed an urgent need for strong pain killers, body gas, bed sheets for wrapping the dead, and for neuro-, vascular-, orthopedic- and open heart surgeons. Collateral damages to hospitals like broken glass were not being repaired. The Palestinian Red Cross was unable to respond to many calls due to the military operations. Only urgent cases and surgery is being carried out in hospitals and all out-patient clinics have been closed.
   Only three out of the 56 primary health care clinics are open; 70% of the chronic disease patients regularly attending those centers had to interrupt their treatment due to the security situation. Chronically ill patients who were accessing care outside of the Gaza strip prior to the conflict urgently needed to resume their treatment. Because of the Israeli closure of the Gaza strip, which has lasted more than a year and a half, hospitals are run down and much of the equipment is unreliable and in need for repair. The UN labeled the importance of spare parts for medical equipment as a priority.
  By 2 February, most health facilities have resumed normal operation. Large volumes of medical supplies have been donated, but the most urgently needed equipment identified by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, notably pulse oximeters, defibrillators, infusion pumps, syringe pumps, ventilators, and anesthesia monitors, have still not been received. Psychotropic drugs are still lacking and urgently needed. In a damage assessment by the World Health Organization, 48% of the 122 health facilities assessed were found to be damaged or destroyed. 15 of Gaza's 27 hospitals and 41 primary health care centers has suffered damage. Two centers were destroyed, and 29 ambulances have been partially damaged or destroyed. The only rehabilitation center in Gaza has also suffered severe damage. Palestinian Ministry of Health reports 16 health staff were killed, and 22 injured while on duty.
  The policy of the Government of Israel is to condition the access of Palestinians who live in the Palestinian territories to healthcare in Israel upon financial coverage from the Palestinian Authority. In January 2009, following the war, the Palestinian Authority cancelled financial coverage for all medical care for Palestinians in Israeli hospitals, including coverage for chronically ill Palestinian patients, and those in need of complex care that is not available in other tertiary medical centers in the region. This decision was protested by human rights organizations.
caption: Ambulance destroyed in the conflict
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