Gaza healthcare system faces critical medicine and power shortages

The healthcare system in the Gaza Strip is facing a critical collapse due to severe shortages of medical supplies and essential operational resources. Medical Relief officials have warned that over 350,000 patients urgently require medication, particularly those suffering from chronic illnesses, cancer, and kidney disease. The Ministry of Health reports that only 19 of the 38 hospitals in the territory remain functional, with 593 essential types of medicine currently missing from emergency lists.

Compounding the shortage of medicine, Patient's Friend Charity Hospital in Gaza City has issued an urgent plea for generator oil. The hospital warned that the imminent depletion of oil needed to maintain electrical generators threatens to shut down life-saving services. A power failure would disable ventilators, incubators for newborns, and intensive care units, as well as operating rooms, laboratories, and emergency departments, placing neonates and critically ill patients at immediate risk.