Burn patients face excruciating recovery as medicines dwindle under Israeli blockade of Gaza
KHAN YOUNIS: Hamza Abu Shabab cringed in pain as his mother pulled off his shirt and eased his bandaged head back onto his pillow so she could apply ointment to his small, burned body.
The 7-year-old suffered third degree burns across his head, neck and shoulders when, frightened by an Israeli airstrike, he spilled a hot plate of rice and lentils onto himself in his family's tent in southern Gaza last month.
His recovery has been slowed by Israel's blockade, now in its third month, that bars all medicine, food, fuel and other goods from entering Gaza. His burns have gotten infected – the boy's immune system is weakened by poor nutrition and supplies of antibiotics are limited, said his mother, Iman Abu Shabab.
"Had there not been a siege or it was a different country, he would have been treated and cured of his wounds," she said at her son's bedside in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
Israel's blockade, imposed since March 2, has forced hospitals and clinics across Gaza to stretch limited stocks of medicines even as needs increase. For burn patients, the lack of supplies is particularly excruciating.
Burns are painful and susceptible to infection, but hospitals, including Nasser are short on painkillers, anesthetics, dressings and hygiene materials, said Julie Faucon, the medical coordinator for Gaza and the occupied West Bank with Doctors Without Borders.
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