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Mother dies after being denied access to health care |
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Written by Rami Almeghari
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Wednesday, 14 November 2007 |
Ayda is yet another victim of Israel's devastating closure of Gaza.
While her husband, 37-year-old Zakariya Abdelal from the Gaza City neighborhood
of al-Tuffah, was receiving condolences from friends and neighbors, their
youngest son, 10-month-old baby Mustafah, lay calmly in the corner.
Thirty-one-year-old mother of seven Ayda died after losing her fight with breast
cancer, which necessitated chemotherapy treatment currently unavailable in Gaza.
Ayda had almost recovered from her illness after the first round of chemotherapy
in a Cairo hospital some months ago.
"She used to watch on us at night, give us a hug when we go to school and kiss
us, but now she can longer do this. She is in heaven, she is in paradise, no
woman can replace her," her 12-year-old son Yehya said.
Breast cancer claims the lives of hundreds of thousands of women around the
globe each year. However, access to treatment that might have prevented Ayda's
death was denied by Israel for political reasons.
More than a dozen people have died as a result of being denied access to medical
care, and many more remain vulnerable, especially those in need of specialized
treatment outside of the Gaza Strip. Since Israel's siege on Gaza following
Hamas taking control of the strip in mid-June, medial supplies have dwindled and
broken medical equipment is not being fixed or replaced as imports have
virtually ceased.
"In August she was supposed to take one more dose of chemicals, as her health
condition was improving, which gave us assurance. After repeated appeals to
concerned bodies, including the [Palestinian] parliament, we could not secure
the chemicals [because of Israeli closure]," Zakariya explained.
Zakariya, holding Mustafah at the condolences ceremony, said that no one
responded to his appeals until November, so he managed to have her transferred
her to a hospital inside Israel, independent of any organization.
"She was allowed to go into Israel after ten days of coordination and contacts,
yet her fate was racing her to the hospital, where doctors told us her body
couldn't absorb the chemicals as the cancer had spread all over," Zakariya
added.
Zakariya wonders, "What does a sick person have to do with politics and what do
politics have to do with sick people?"
Ayda's 10-year-old daughter cried continuously in the crowded receiving room,
which included people from the recently formed International Campaign to Break
the Siege on Gaza. None of the warm feelings and words extended to this newly
grieved girl could calm her down.
Chairman of the International Campaign and Gaza parliamentarian Jamal al-Khodary
has launched an appeal to humanitarian organizations to immediately intervene to
lift the Israeli siege on Gaza and help save the lives of hundreds people in
need of treatment abroad or medication inside.
There are now about 1,000 patients in Gaza lacking treatment, among them 350 who
must undergo surgeries abroad, according to the campaign. The Palestinian health
ministry in Gaza has recently appealed for the ensuring of access for said
patients to go abroad.
According to the Palestinian Petroleum Authority officials, the fuel supplies
have been reduced to almost 70 percent. "We used to receive about 600,000 to
700,000 liters of fuel supplies everyday, but we now receive 160,000 liters,
which we distribute to prioritized sectors such as hospitals, water and
sanitation plants," says Ahmad Ali, the deputy chief of Palestinian Petroleum
Authority in Gaza.
Saudi Arabia recently announced it would send fifty machines for the treatment
of kidney failure. Until such equipment arrives, how many more children will
unnecessarily lose their parent?
Rami Almeghari is currently contributor to several media outlets including
the Palestine Chronicle, aljazeerah.info, IMEMC, The Electronic Intifada and
Free Speech Radio News. Rami is also a former senior English translator at and
editor in chief of the international press center of the Gaza-based Palestinian
Information Service. He can be contacted at rami_almeghari at hotmail.com.
Source: electronic Intifada
Comments posted are the sole opinion of the author and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of AIM. |
