Abou Dis (Palestinian Territories) (AFP)
Faced with the crisis of the new coronavirus, a Palestinian university unveiled a respirator manufactured on board on Thursday, in an attempt to respond to the lack of medical equipment in the Palestinian Territories.
About 350 cases of people infected with the Covid-19 pandemic have been officially recorded in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including two deaths.
After realizing that there were fewer than 200 respirators available in these territories, the faculty of medicine at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, a suburb of Jerusalem, decided to take action, explains his Dean Hani Abdeen.
One of the difficulties was finding the necessary parts, he told AFP. And importation remains costly and difficult, with Israel controlling the borders of the West Bank, the Palestinian territory it has occupied since 1967, he argues.
So, at the start of the crisis, university engineers used the materials and tools available to design a home-made respirator, which was approved by the Palestinian authorities on Wednesday. They received the same day 15 respirators from abroad via Israel.
The "Made in Palestine" device, whose mechanism is actuated by a pump, is less reliable than other respirators but it is cheaper, quick to manufacture and vital for emergency situations, according to Mr. Abdeen, whose the team plans to produce 500 units in the coming days, destined for Palestinian hospitals.
"We are currently in an emergency to produce for hospitals in Palestine. We can then see if we get along with companies to produce more for the rest of the world," said Imad Abu Kishek, president of the university.
Abdeen said the innovation was made easier by the plight of the Palestinians. "We had to rely on the knowledge, expertise and innovative skills of Palestinian scientists and doctors to help our community," said the dean. "This proves that in difficulty, we can excel."
© 2020 AFP