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Palestinian Ahmed Al-Darmli is deeply concerned about the life of his young child, Karam (11 years old), who was infected with hepatitis A as a result of the repercussions of the Israeli war that has been ongoing for about 7 months in the Gaza Strip.
Hepatitis A is a highly contagious infection that occurs in the liver, and is caused by a virus as a result of consuming contaminated food or drink, or as a result of close contact with a person carrying the disease.
Cases of hepatitis have spread in the Gaza Strip, especially among children, as a result of lack of personal hygiene and water, food contamination, and overcrowding in displacement centers, due to the restrictions imposed by the Israeli army on all necessities of life.
Depressing health situation
Ahmed, the father of the sick child, is frustrated by the harsh conditions facing the Strip as a result of the devastating Israeli war, which makes it difficult for his child to access the necessary health care.
The father makes strenuous efforts to search for medicine and treatment for his child in Gaza, despite the health catastrophe that the Strip is suffering from and the shortage of medicines and medical supplies.
On the bed of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, where Anatolia visited him, lay Karam, who was staying in one of the schools for the displaced after his displacement from the family home in Gaza City, in the northern Strip.
Doctors in the hospital do not hesitate to provide all necessary and available health care to patients, despite the severe shortage of necessary supplies and needs.
Al-Darmali told Anatolia: My son Karam contracted hepatitis as a result of water and food contamination, as we live in a shelter center and there are no means of hygiene available.
He added: The disease has spread widely among the displaced, and many are suffering from it.
The father points out that health care in the Gaza Strip is non-existent due to the acute shortage of medical supplies, medicines and laboratory tests.
Our children must be treated abroad
In a bed next to the child Karam, lies Yusra Ahmed, another child who suffers from hepatitis and suffers from severe fatigue.
Next to Karam's father, Yusra's mother stands with tears filling her eyes, fearing for her daughter's life, under inhumane conditions as a result of the fierce war.
Yusra's mother told Anadolu: My daughter contracted hepatitis due to its spread in shelter centers in the northern Gaza Strip.
With her heart aching for her child, she added: We do not know what to do, as there is no treatment and no improvement in her health condition.
She points out that in the Gaza Strip, there are no capabilities to treat the disease, as health laboratories have been destroyed, and medicines are scarce.
The Palestinian mother demands that her child be treated outside the Gaza Strip, so that her health can return to what it was before and she can live in peace like the rest of the children in the world.
A large spread in shelter centers
Iman Abu Jalhoum, a pediatrician at Kamal Adwan Hospital, tells Anadolu Agency that many patients suffer from health problems, malnutrition, and hepatitis due to the effects of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.
She explains that the spread of hepatitis is due to a decline in hygiene (as a result of the Israeli aggression), contamination of water and food, in addition to overcrowding in shelter centers, which lack the basic necessities of life.
She adds: This disease is widely spread in shelter centers in the Gaza Strip, where we receive more than 10 new cases daily from all age groups.
The doctor confirms that the Gaza Strip's hospitals are unable to deal with the injured due to the lack of treatment and medical supplies in light of the devastating war for all sectors of life.
It warns of the continued spread of the infectious disease among the displaced, which poses a major and unprecedented threat to the health and safety of children.
8 thousand infections
Nearly two million Palestinians were displaced from their areas of residence as a result of the Israeli incursion and bombing of homes during the war that has been ongoing since the seventh of last October.
The Palestinians face difficult humanitarian conditions due to the lack of treatment, food and water, as they reside in shelter centers and tents that lack the basic necessities of life.
In the Gaza Strip, about 700,000 people suffer from infectious diseases as a result of displacement, including about 8,000 cases of viral hepatitis, according to the government media office in the Gaza Strip.
On Thursday, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned of the consequences of the collapse of the health system in the besieged Gaza Strip, noting that there are only 10 partially functioning hospitals out of 36.
Since the start of its aggression against Gaza on October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have targeted medical facilities and hospitals in various regions of the Strip with systematic and continuous attacks, which has caused the destruction of the health system, a humanitarian catastrophe, and the deterioration of the infrastructure.
Source: Al Jazeera + Anatolia