Gaza in dire need for healthcare services, personnel — JMA

AMMAN — In Gaza, there is a critical need for neurosurgeons, war-related burn care specialists and nursing staff, according to a Jordan Medical Association (JMA) representative.

“Gaza is a war-ravaged area that needs lifesaving healthcare services and personnel,” JMA Board Member Maha Fakhoury told The Jordan Times.

“The JMA is currently making the necessary arrangements to send its first batch of urgent medical supplies and equipment,” she said.

She added that all hospitals and healthcare facilities in Gaza are operating beyond their capacities therefore there is a dire need to provide adequate medical supplies.

The association will send the first batch in cooperation with the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation, she said.

Moreover, Fakhoury explained that although multiple JMA medics were in El Arish, they were not allowed entry into the besieged strip. 

She pointed out that “the association is fully prepared to send civilian doctors to support and serve in the heavily burdened hospitals and medical facilities in the Gaza Strip”, 

The JMA along with other medical missions struggle to obtain security authorisations, according to Fakhoury who noted that the association is in constant contact with the Palestinian Ministry of Health, medical unions and some hospitals in Gaza, emphasising their crucial need of medical supplies in addition to physicians and pediatric surgeons, anesthesiologists and intensive care specialists.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that hospitals and medical facilities have received repeated evacuation orders. The medical staff currently employed constitutes only 30 per cent.