EMERGENCies and complex hospital care

Improving the treatment of burns, West Bank and Gaza

Displacement, electricity shortages, cramped living conditions and over-reliance on open flames can often result in burns injuries, with women and children most at risk. In the West Bank, checkpoints and roadblocks delay access to burn services, increasing the chance of infection and sepsis. MAP is building capacity in four burn treatment units – two in the West Bank and two in Gaza – through specialised training and by providing essential drugs and equipment.

Read about Palestinian surgeons from Hebron and Nablus burn units who benefited from an intensive four month burn management training placement in India and Nepal in 2019.

Zero stock medicines and disposables, Gaza

Gaza is experiencing chronic shortages of vital medical supplies, with 50% of essential medicines at “zero stock” meaning there is less than one month’s supply at Gaza’s Central Drug Store in March 2021. These shortages compromise patient care and cause avoidable death and disability, and have been exacerbated by recent emergencies, including Israel’s military assault on Gaza in May 2021.

MAP monitors these shortages and helps by procuring and supplying essential medicines and disposables, including drugs and laboratory testing materials needed for COVID-19 response.

Limb reconstruction and physiotherapy training, Gaza

Repeated attacks on Gaza have caused many injuries too complex to be treated within the resource-deprived local health system. With our partner, IDEALS, MAP established a permanent limb reconstruction unit staffed by local surgeons and nurses at Nasser Hospital, securing the future of post-traumatic and reconstructive surgery in Gaza. We are also investing in rehabilitation services to reduce the likelihood of ongoing health complications.

During the “Great March of Return” demonstrations in 2018-19, more than 7,000 people were shot with live ammunition. In the May 2021 attacks on Gaza, 260 Palestinians were killed, including 66 children. Over 2,200 Palestinians were wounded during the violence, including 685 children and 480 women, many of whom may suffer injuries requiring long-term rehabilitation or permanent disability. These repeated crises have demonstrated the huge need for our work.

Responding to the economic crisis, Lebanon

Lebanon is experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades, which is happening in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This multi-layered crisis is disproportionately affecting the 250,000 Palestinian refugees living in camps across Lebanon.

MAP has scaled up its emergency response, recruiting more midwives to provide regular home visits to vulnerable pregnant women, new mothers and babies; delivering food parcels to families at high risk of malnutrition; and providing essential medical equipment for Palestine Red Crescent Society hospitals.