The questions I’m going to try to answer are the following.

If anything is unclear, ask me!

Some of the information is from my first hand experience, and I double checked some of the information on the website of the World Health Organisation. Most of the photos come from their website. I’ll put it in the alternative text.

2/15

How was the health care system in Gaza before the war?

Palestine in general and Gaza in particular were always very good at making health services available in spite of limited resources: in particular, the health workforce numbers and the medical facility numbers (hospital beds, primary care facilities) were similar to what you could find in the West Bank or in Jordan, just slightly lower numbers per inhabitant. But higher than in Egypt.

Except for dentists. There were always really really few dentists in Gaza.

I have a dental problem by the way. I'll tell you about that soon.

4/15

However, Gaza always was awfully under-equipped with medical equipment and with medicine, because of the blockade imposed by the occupation (they would deny entry of any advanced medical equipment into the Gaza Strip). The health system before the war was completely dilapidated and extremely poor due to the lack of most equipment needed to perform surgeries. There was a severe shortage of medicines already before the war. Many departments in some hospitals were unavailable in others.

5/15

Did people only go to the hospital, or were there private doctors too? Was it free to go to the hospital? Were hospitals affiliated with the government?

There were private doctors assigned to each department, but you had to pay to see them. You would pay a lot of money just to be seen by any private doctor. When we went to public hospitals, everything was free, including medicine, but many medications were unavailable. We had to buy them from abroad at exorbitant prices.

6/15

There were government hospitals and hospitals affiliated with other countries, such as the European Hospital funded by the European Union, the Kuwait Hospital in Rafah funded by Kuwait, the Emirati Hospital funded by the UAE, and the Jordanian Hospital funded by Jordan. When someone needed to book a surgery or appointment with a doctor at a hospital, they would have to wait a long time before their turn came.

7/15

Something people would do sometimes is request a permit to leave the Gaza Strip and be sent to a hospital outside, for example in Jerusalem, or in the West Bank, in Jordan, in Egypt, or even in Israel. But you would need to request a permit from the Israeli occupying forces for that, for the person who needs medical attention, as well as for any companions who would want to go with them.

8/15

Something else of notice is, there was an average of 100 attacks per year by the occupation against healthcare workers, ambulances and hospitals. This is before the war that started on 7 October 2023. They were already attacking very regularly. Even some patients were regularly arrested and detained. And ambulances were obstructed.

10/15

Are there good medical universities in Gaza?

From an academic standpoint, there are no universities in Gaza that offer medical studies, except for Al-Azhar University and the Islamic University. Admission to these universities requires a high school graduation score of over 96%, which significantly reduces educational opportunities in Gaza. Furthermore, medical education in Gaza is extremely expensive. A single semester of medical school requires over $5,000 for a student to study.

11/15

This forces many to seek higher education abroad, including in Egypt, Turkey, Europe, Jordan, and other Arab countries. A large number of students receive scholarships to study abroad. Medical staff salaries are around $1,000-$1,500 per month, which is much higher than the average income in Gaza (about $250 per month) but lower than what doctors get in other parts of the world. This motivates some medical professionals to leave Gaza in search of higher wages.

12/15

Does Gaza rely a lot on Doctors Without Borders or the Red Crescent/Red Cross in general?

Gaza always relied heavily on international health organizations and sectors, such as Doctors Without Borders, which are a cornerstone of Gaza's hospitals.

I hope this gives you an idea of how the health care system worked in Gaza before the war. In a future thread, I’ll talk about the way things are working nowadays.

14/15

If you enjoyed this, please share with your friends and followers, and please donate to my brother’s crowdfunding campaign if you can. Many people are sick given our living conditions for the past 2 years, our weakened immune system and our exposure to toxic chemicals and pollution. My mother has high blood pressure. My uncle has cancer.

👉 gofund.me/0962a012a

15/15

#Gaza #FreeGaza #Palestine #FreePalestine #Genocide #StopGenocide #Health #Healthcare #MutualAid #MutualAidRequest