In the region, humanitarian health needs are urgent and include trauma and emergency care for thousands of injured individuals. These services require early post-operative rehabilitation to support their recovery. However, there is a critical shortage of essential medical supplies such as trauma and emergency care drugs, medical disposables, laboratory supplies, medical kits, and equipment that need to be procured. Furthermore, access to electricity or fuel supplies at key hospitals and ambulance services is necessary for life-saving services.
At the primary and secondary healthcare levels, it is essential to provide access to essential healthcare services for the general population. This includes disease surveillance due to the risk of outbreaks caused by poor water quality and overcrowded shelters. Mental health and psychosocial support are also crucial for those who have experienced significant trauma.
To address these needs, priority response activities must be implemented at pre-hospital, hospital, and post-hospital levels of trauma care. Providing early access to multidisciplinary postoperative care and rehabilitation services is vital for those injured. Emergency Medical Teams need to be deployed to key hospitals while three field hospitals need to be established. Fuel should be provided to key hospitals, primary healthcare centers, and ambulance services as well as existing capacity in providing essential primary and secondary healthcare services needs to be maximized.
Additionally, referral pathways outside of the Gaza Strip need reestablishment while early warning alert and response systems should be scaled up along with disease surveillance capacity for communicable diseases. Mental health support is also a priority response activity with psychotropic medicines being supplied to those with mental health disorders.
Lastly, maintaining essential supplies at community and facility levels is critical in addressing ongoing humanitarian health needs in the region.
In conclusion, humanitarian health needs in this region are numerous but can be addressed through priority response activities that aim to increase service delivery capacity at all levels of trauma care while ensuring accessibility of essential medical supplies such as trauma care drugs among others.
The situation requires immediate action from both local authorities and international organizations working on humanitarian issues in order to address these pressing needs effectively.
Overall, addressing the humanitarian crisis in this region will require a coordinated effort from all stakeholders involved with a focus on providing sustainable solutions that will help improve people’s lives in the long run.
