GAZA, (PIC)
Inside medical departments exhausted by the siege and war in the hospitals of the Gaza Strip, dozens of thalassemia patients sit with pale faces and bodies worn out by disease, malnutrition, and delayed treatment, waiting for blood units that may not arrive on time, in a scene that summarizes one of the most complex health crises in the besieged Strip.
With the arrival of International Thalassemia Day, the occasion that is supposed to be a space for awareness and support has turned into a new cry for help, launched by hundreds of patients and their families, in light of the collapse of large parts of the health system, the continuation of the war and siege, and the loss of essential medicines and medical supplies.
Thalassemia patients in Gaza no longer face only a chronic hereditary disease, but an open daily battle with blood shortages, the absence of medicines, and the disruption of medical examinations, amid increasing fears of a rise in the number of silent deaths among patients, especially children.
Blood bags control the fate of patients
In one of the crowded corridors inside the hospital, the child Yazan al-Masri waits for his turn to receive a new blood unit, after the treatment journey has become more fraught with risks than ever before.
Maha Abu Shuwaikh, 18, one of the thalassemia patients, says, “Our lives have become linked to the timing of the blood bag, and every delay means more fatigue and dizziness and perhaps the collapse of our exhausted bodies.”
She adds in a faint voice, “We wait for blood as people wait for survival, but we often return from the hospital without treatment.”
She explains that before the war, patients used to receive regular blood transfusion sessions, along with iron-chelating drugs and periodic examinations, but the war completely overturned the situation, after the capacity of hospitals to provide the minimum level of treatment services declined.
Blood bags, and the consumables and simple medical tools they require, have effectively come to control the fate of hundreds of patients who depend on periodic blood transfusions to stay alive, in light of the acute shortage of medical supplies and the enormous pressure on hospitals. “Raw blood transfusion”… when treatment turns into danger
The crisis does not stop at the shortage of blood units, but extends to the loss of special medical filters for blood purification during transfusion processes, which are essential tools that reduce complications resulting from frequent blood transfusions.
The director of the Thalassemia Unit, Dr. Muhammad al-Haddad, confirms that medical teams have become forced to transfuse blood without using intravenous filters because they have completely run out.
He says, “Due to the siege, these filters have been completely lost, and doctors have become forced to transfuse blood in a raw form, which exposes patients to severe symptoms that may threaten their lives.”
Doctors point out that the absence of filters increases the chances of serious health complications, including fever, immune reactions, shortness of breath, and acute infections, at a time when hospitals are no longer able to provide full care or regular follow-up for patients.
“Bodies rusting from the inside”
In addition to the blood transfusion crisis, patients face an acute shortage of iron-chelating drugs, which form an essential part of the thalassemia treatment protocol.
Dr. Fouad Najm explains that thalassemia patients who depend on periodic blood transfusions accumulate large amounts of iron in their bodies, while the body does not have a natural way to get rid of it without the drugs designated for that.
He says, “The thalassemia patient in Gaza lives with a body rusting from the inside.”
He adds, “Without iron-chelating drugs, iron accumulates in the heart muscle causing sudden failure, and in the liver causing cirrhosis, and it also hits the endocrine glands and causes diabetes and growth failure.”
According to data from the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the deficit rate in specialized iron-chelating drugs has reached 100 percent, while the majority of families are unable to buy any limited quantities available in the markets due to their high prices, noting that the patient needs daily doses for life. A “triangle of crisis” threatens the lives of patients
Dr. Najm describes the reality of thalassemia patients in Gaza as a complete “triangle of crisis” that threatens their lives daily.
The first side, according to Najm, is represented by the acute shortage of blood units as a result of the enormous pressure on hospitals with the influx of large numbers of wounded and injured people, which pushes medical teams to give priority to emergency cases and postpone thalassemia patients as “relatively stable cases.”
He says, “This postponement may extend for weeks, and during it, hemoglobin drops to dangerous levels that may lead to failure in heart functions.”
As for the second side, it is the absence of the intravenous filters necessary to purify the blood from white blood cells and impurities, while the third side is represented by the continuation of blood transfusions without iron-chelating drugs. He adds, “The normal medical equation is: blood transfusion + iron-chelating drug = stable life, but the current equation in Gaza is blood transfusion without chelating drugs, which means the accumulation of iron in the heart and liver in a fatal way.”
Children in the circle of danger
Umm Muhammad Abu Awda, who is the mother of a child with thalassemia, says that the treatment journey has turned into a daily nightmare for families.
She adds, “Every time we go to the hospital, we fear that a blood unit will not be available, or that the child will return in a worse condition due to the lack of treatment.”
She continues, “Our children cannot bear this situation, they need continuous and safe treatment, but everything has become deficient.”
Doctors warn that children are the group most vulnerable to risk, in light of weak immunity, malnutrition, and the continuation of the catastrophic humanitarian conditions experienced by the Strip.
“Zero” health indicators
In a related context, the Ministry of Health in Gaza warned of the worsening of the pharmaceutical and laboratory crisis inside hospitals, announcing that 47 percent of essential medicines and 59 percent of medical consumables have run out, while the stocks of 87 percent of laboratory testing materials have become “zero.”
The Ministry confirmed that blood disease treatment services, including thalassemia, are among the health sectors most affected by the acute shortage of medicines and medical supplies, in addition to the decline in laboratory services necessary to follow up patients and diagnose health complications.
It also warned of the shortage of testing materials for complete blood count (CBC), clinical chemistry tests, and blood gases, which are basic tests that thalassemia patients rely on to monitor their health status continuously.
A cry for help to save patients
With the widening of the crisis, the appeals of doctors, health institutions, and families of patients continue to international and humanitarian bodies for urgent intervention to save thalassemia patients in Gaza.
Doctors emphasize that urgent priorities consist of providing safe blood units, iron-chelating drugs, medical filters, and ensuring the entry of therapeutic and laboratory supplies on a continuous basis.
At a time when treatment opportunities are declining and the suffering of patients is increasing day after day, the battle of thalassemia patients in Gaza seems to be more than just living with a chronic disease, turning into a daily confrontation with slow death, amid a health and humanitarian collapse that worsens with the continuation of the war and siege.