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A new package of UK aid announced today which will
provide urgently needed medicines and surgical supplies to
hospitals in Gaza
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UK aid will support the International Committee for the
Red Cross (ICRC) to deliver urgently needed surgical equipment,
medicines, wound dressing kits, prosthetic limbs and
post-surgery physiotherapy
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It will also help to provide physical rehabilitation
services for up to 3,000 disabled people.
Struggling hospitals across Gaza will receive critical support
through a new package of UK aid announced today (28 March), which
will provide urgently needed medicines and surgical supplies.
The funding, confirmed by the International Development Secretary
, will help to keep Gaza’s
hospitals functioning as they face increasing demand from the
number of trauma patients.
Hospitals in Gaza are under extreme pressure, after trauma
patients requiring treatment increased month-on-month to more
than 29,000 over the last year. Rising demands on hospitals have
reduced general access to healthcare, with consistent shortages
of medicines and supplies leading to increased rates of
infection, and a growing risk of amputations and antibiotic
resistance.
UK aid will support the International Committee for the Red Cross
(ICRC) to deliver urgently needed surgical equipment, medicines,
wound dressing kits, prosthetic limbs and post-surgery
physiotherapy. It will also help to provide physical
rehabilitation services for up to 3,000 disabled people.
International Development Secretary said:
“The UK is deeply concerned by the crisis in Gaza and the
pressure it is putting on hospitals, which are now near breaking
point. The UK aid funding announced today will help treat the
growing number of emergency patients and provide urgently needed
medicines, surgical supplies and rehabilitation.
“Our support has consistently provided support to meet the basic
needs of people in Gaza. UK aid has helped prevent the spread of
disease, and given people access to healthcare, clean water and
sanitation. It also recently provided a package of emergency food
supplies for more than 62,000 Palestinian refugees at risk of
going hungry.
“We are also working to address some of the underlying causes of
the humanitarian situation in Gaza through an economic
development programme, which includes increasing the sustainable
supplies of water and electricity. The UK supports a return to
negotiations to find a lasting political settlement for
Palestinians and Israelis.”
Notes to editors
- DFID will
provide £2 million to the International Committee for the Red
Cross’s (ICRC) 2019 Israel and Occupied Territories (ILOT)
Appeal. UK aid will contribute to the delivery of surgical
equipment, drugs and disposables, wound dressing kits,
rehabilitative prosthetics, and post-surgery physiotherapy
through the Artificial Limb and Polio Centre.
- The work
of the ICRC is based on the Geneva Conventions of 1949, their
Additional Protocols, its Statutes – and those of the
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement – and the
resolutions of the International Conferences of the Red Cross and
Red Crescent. The ICRC is an independent, neutral organisation
ensuring humanitarian protection and assistance for victims of
armed conflict and other situations of violence. It takes action
in response to emergencies and at the same time promotes respect
for international humanitarian law and its implementation in
national law.
