Hospital hygiene companies are to begin a three-day strike in all Gaza hospitals, as of Wednesday. An official has warned against the collapse of the health sector in the Gaza Strip, due to the lack of an operating budget.The companies, in a Tuesday press statement, called on hospitals management to take all necessary precautions to preserve the lives of patients, according to Al Ray.
“We constantly contacted with Palestinian officials concerned to meet the workers’ demands by reimbursing them for the salaries delayed since five months but had no response,” the statement said.
It condemned the ‘indifference’ expressed by the Ministry of Health towards their cause, and stressed the need for setting aside the issue for party advantage.
The companies previously warned about the possibility of such a scenario, noting that they are willing to solve the problem without it, but have no other options to secure their rights.
In realted news, a health official recently warned against the collapse of the health sector in the Gaza Strip, due to the lack of an operating budget for maintenance, hygiene, and for medical disposables and other equipment.
General Director of Pharmacology in the Health Ministry, Ashraf Abu Mhadi, said during a Tuesday meeting which addressed health sector challenges in Gaza, that the government must shoulder its responsibilities to save the deteriorating health sector.
He stated the deficit in public medical services has accumulated, since the consensus government was formed in June of 2014, to $9.3 million, noting that the ministry needs some $40 million annually to meet the minimum needs of basic medicine.
Abu Mhadi explained that 38% of the basic drugs are about to run out within days, while there is a deficit of 55% in the medical missions. He detailed the deficits as follows: a deficit of 29% in the surgery and intensive care missions, 14% of cancer drugs, in addition to 12% of primary care medicines.
The total expenditure of the Health Ministry on medical missions and drugs since the unity government took office has now reached about $10 million. Yet, the drugs and medical disposables shipped from Ramallah warehouses were reportedly worth less than $2,650,000, according to Abu Mahadi.
