GAZA: Amid the ongoing Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip over the past two-and-a-half years, and in particular the widespread destruction of health infrastructure, heart patients have faced deteriorating humanitarian and medical situations.
The crisis has left their lives at risk as a result of the collapse of the healthcare system, lack of treatment, and difficulties in accessing essential care.
Remaining hospitals across Gaza are overwhelmed with heart patients in an ongoing medical reality that is marked by a severe shortages of equipment, medicines and supplies and an inability to meet even basic care needs, as the repercussions of the attacks on the territory continue to deepen the crisis.
Patient Mohammed Al-Sa’ati, 66, has been at Nasser Medical Complex for two months. Doctors will not allow him to leave due to the severity of his condition.
“I have been suffering from irregular heart rhythms for eight years and I currently need a pacemaker but it is unavailable,” he said. “Doctors insist that I remain in the hospital out of concern for my life.
“My symptoms worsen in the absence of the device. I experience a sharp drop in heart rate, causing dizziness and recurrent fainting, leaving my condition unstable. My life is at risk and no solution appears on the horizon.”
Another patient, 67-year-old Fatima Rashid described her suffering: “I have chronic, irregular hypertension and require frequent hospital admission but treatment is unavailable.
“I am currently suffering from fluid accumulation in the lungs due to high blood pressure, and doctors have warned me of the risk of a stroke due to the shortage of medication.
“I underwent a catheterization procedure a year-and-a-half ago and was supposed to take a specific medication for a year, but it is unavailable, which led to the narrowing of the stent in my heart. “I feel that my death is near.”
Dr. Ashraf Hallas, head of the cardiology department at Nasser Medical Complex, said the Israeli aggression against Gaza, and the resultant destruction and depletion in the health sector, has exacerbated the suffering of heart patients to unprecedented levels.
“We are facing a severe shortage of medicines and equipment, particularly those required for catheterization procedures, which has led to the suspension of around 80 percent of cases scheduled for treatment,” he said.
Prior to the conflict, between five and eight catheterization procedures took place each day at Al-Shifa Medical Complex and the European Hospital, as well as private health centers. Now, only a few such procedures are carried out.
Hallas said the Ministry of Health has contracted Al-Quds Hospital to perform catheterization procedures but these are limited to no more than three a day and reserved exclusively for the most critically ill patients, based on medical prioritization.
He noted that shortages of catheterization equipment, including stents and balloons, sometimes forces doctors to carry out procedures without inserting stents, and when it is necessary to transfer patients for treatment outside of Gaza, the process is hindered by restrictions imposed by the occupation.
Many patients lose their lives as a result of delays to treatment or the inability to travel for care amid the continuing closure of border crossings and other restrictions on movement.
Regarding shortages of diagnostic equipment, Hallas said electrocardiogram devices, which monitor the heart’s electrical activity, are entirely unavailable. Echocardiography machines, which use ultrasound technology to produce images of the interior of the heart, are in short supply, he added, and other diagnostic equipment is no longer functioning as a result damage inflicted on the health sector by the Israeli attacks.
These conditions have led to the deterioration of heart disease patients, increased psychological stress, and a rise in mortality rates compared with the period before the current conflict.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, heart diseases currently account for about 56 percent of all deaths in Gaza as thousands of patients are unable to leave the territory for treatment because of imposed restrictions on movement.
Local sources also indicate that about 20,000 patients face difficulties accessing treatment, and 1,400 wounded persons have died while waiting to travel for care outside Gaza in what is described as one of the most severe consequences the ongoing aggression is having on the humanitarian and health situations in the territory.
