Lack of prosthetic limb supplies: Amputees struggle in Gaza
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Nuseirat/Gaza Strip: Those who were amputated in Gaza during the Israeli attacks are struggling in the war-torn land, despite experiencing a ceasefire, due to an acute shortage of prosthetic limbs, according to a report by the Associated Press.
The 2-month-old ceasefire in Gaza has been slow to bring help for thousands of Palestinians who suffered amputations from Israeli bombardment over the past two years. The World Health Organisation estimates there are some 5,000 to 6,000 amputees from the war, 25 per cent of them children.
Those who lost limbs are struggling to adapt, faced with a shortage of prosthetic limbs and long delays in medical evacuations out of Gaza.
The WHO said a shipment of essential prosthetic supplies recently made it into Gaza. That appears to be the first significant shipment for the past two years.
Previously, Israel had let in almost no ready-made prosthetic limbs or material to manufacture limbs since the war began, according to Loay Abu Saif, the head of the disability program at Medical Aid for Palestinians, or MAP, and Nevin Al Ghussein, acting director of the Artificial Limbs and Polio Centre in Gaza City.
The Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid, known as COGAT, did not respond when asked how many prosthetic supplies had entered during the war or about its policies on such supplies.
The ceasefire has hardly brought any increase in medical evacuations for the 16,500 Palestinians the UN says are waiting to get vital treatment abroad — not just amputees, but patients suffering many kinds of chronic conditions or wounds.
Some 42,000 Palestinians have suffered life-changing injuries in the war, including amputations, brain trauma, spinal cord injuries and major burns, the WHO said in an October report.