By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL-On Friday, the U.N. denounced deliberate destruction of specialized, rare medical equipment in hospitals and maternity wards in Gaza. According to U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) representative for the State of Palestine Dominic Allen – U.N.-led missions to at least 10 Gaza hospitals were discovered to be in ruin with only a few able to provide any level of maternal health services. Allen, speaking to journalists in Geneva via video link from Jerusalem explained that he saw “medical equipment purposefully broken, ultrasounds – which you will know is a very important tool for helping ensure safe births – with cables that have been cut.” He added that it “breaks my heart,” saying that “Screens of complex medical equipment, like ultrasounds and others with the screens smashed,” were found. The World Health Organization (WHO) had great difficulty getting such equipment into Gaza before Oct. 7 last year.
Currently, only 10 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functioning and Allen said that at another specialized maternity hospital in Khan Younis, Al-Khair, that there was no working medical equipment with silent birthing rooms. Allen said that only three of those hospitals are able to care for an estimated 180 women giving birth across Gaza on a daily basis with 15% suffering complications that need major medical intervention. The Emirati Hospital in the south, Gaza’s main maternity hospital is assisting 60 births daily with at least 12 Caesarean sections. Due to limited space, women are at increased health risk since they must be discharged in a day or less .
