DaysofPal-In Gaza, where the health system teeters on the brink of collapse, patients are increasingly relying on improvised medical devices to survive.
Elderly woman Fatima Abu Saada now breathes through a plastic tube connected to a manual hand pump, a makeshift alternative to a respirator that is no longer available in local hospitals. Her son, Sami, operates the pump to produce vapor that eases her breathing.
“Thank God for this device,” Abu Saada told Sanad News Agency.
“Without it, I wouldn’t still be alive. My life depends on it,” he added, noting that other patients, including children, have also benefited from the device, highlighting the severe shortages of basic medical equipment in Gaza.
Sami explained that his mother suffers from multiple chronic conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and neurological disorders.
Before creating the manual vaporizer, he said, he was forced to take her to Nasser Hospital whenever her breathing worsened, an exhausting trip that cost about 60 shekels each time. He has relied on the homemade device for nine months, sometimes using it up to three times an hour.
Sami appealed to the international community to pressure the Israeli occupation to reopen border crossings and stop attacks on Gaza, emphasizing that the shortages of medicines and equipment result directly from prolonged closures.
Gaza’s humanitarian crisis has intensified following the cessation of major hostilities. Hospitals remain damaged, medical supplies are scarce, and the Israeli occupation continues to restrict the Rafah crossing under the October ceasefire agreement, preventing patients from seeking treatment abroad.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health has repeatedly warned that the medical system is approaching total collapse.
Officials say shortages of laboratory consumables are now at catastrophic levels, with 59 percent of essential lab items unavailable, including tests vital for blood counts, electrolytes, blood typing, bacterial cultures, and kidney function assessments.
From the ceasefire in October through late December, Israeli occupation permitted only 30 percent of Gaza’s monthly medical supply needs to enter, severely limiting the number of medical trucks allowed into the territory.
Health officials warn that with hospitals unable to meet patients’ needs, residents are increasingly forced to improvise life-saving solutions.
Fatima Abu Saada’s reliance on a hand-pump vaporizer illustrates the human cost of these shortages, a stark reminder of the broader humanitarian crisis gripping Gaza.
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