More than 380,000 people in Gaza will receive life-saving medical treatment with help from UK aid
UK aid to the World Health Organisation will address urgent gaps in trauma and emergency care, including by establishing a new limb reconstruction unit.
International Development Minister Andrew Murrison.
- To mark his first visit as Minister for the Middle East, Dr Andrew Murrison announced a new package of UK aid to support Gaza’s struggling health service from Gaza today
- UK aid to the World Health Organisation (WHO) will address urgent gaps in trauma and emergency care, including by establishing a new limb reconstruction unit
- The new package of support will help relieve extreme pressure on Gaza’s health service, which is currently struggling to cope with the thousands of patients in need of trauma care
The new Minister for the Middle East, Dr Andrew Murrison, has today announced a new package of UK aid which will help to provide life-saving treatment to more than 380,000 people in Gaza.
To mark his visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Dr Murrison said that UK aid to the World Health Organisation (WHO) would establish a new limb reconstruction unit in Gaza, as well as providing valuable expertise to help Gaza’s health service deal with emergency patients more efficiently.
Minister for the Middle East Dr Andrew Murrison said:
The situation in Gaza is unsustainable and the health services are struggling to deliver basic care to those in need of emergency medical attention.
I’ve seen first-hand how important this new UK aid package is to save the lives and limbs, relieving at least some of the strain on Gaza’s health system.
But only a just and lasting resolution that ends the occupation and delivers peace for both Israelis and Palestinians will fully resolve the problems facing Gaza. The UK remains committed to making progress towards a two-state solution.
This new package of UK aid support will help to carry some of the strain placed upon Gaza’s struggling health service, with more than 28,000 trauma patients in the last year.
UK aid support to Gaza through the World Health Organisation will:
- establish a limb reconstruction unit to provide centralised expertise for patients with complex injuries including gunshot wounds
- create an emergency medical team coordination cell to manage the treatment of patients in urgent life-threatening conditions more efficiently
- provide equipment such as radios and GPS maps to the ambulance service to improve their ability to respond.
This new package complements UK aid support through the International Committee for the Red Cross, through which surgical equipment, drugs and disposables, wound dressing kits, rehabilitative prosthetics, and post-surgery physiotherapy is provided to Gaza’s struggling health service.
Notes to editors:
- This is a £1.6 million package of support to be delivered through the World Health Organisation.
- In March the UK announced £2m for International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) to support their 2019 appeal.
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