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 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.
UK aid will provide vital life-saving support to those
wounded in Gaza
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.
