The absence of regular vaccinations in the governorates of Gaza and the northern Gaza Strip poses another threat to the lives of children, in addition to the continuous bombing since last October 7.
The Israeli war, which has entered its fourth consecutive month, continues to cast a negative shadow on thousands of children, who are classified as among the most vulnerable segment of society.
In addition to the lack of food and potable water, the overcrowding of displaced people in shelter centers, and the accompanying spread of infectious diseases, children are suffering from health complications and infections caused by the forced absence of these vaccines.
Israel continues to disrupt the work of the health system in the Gaza and Northern governorates, by preventing the entry of medicines, consumables and medical supplies into them, after targeting the majority of medical facilities and ambulances located there.
It also recently moved to target medical facilities located in central and southern Gaza, coinciding with its focused ground operations there.
Medical facilities that were targeted in the northern areas of the Strip are trying to rise again from the destruction and rubble, most notably Kamal Adwan Hospital in the town of Beit Lahia (north).
On January 1, the Ministry of Health announced that childhood vaccinations had arrived at primary care centers in the southern and central regions of the Gaza Strip, but did not reach the Gaza and North governorates due to the Israeli ban imposed on them.
Health complications
Inside the corridors of Kamal Adwan Hospital, passers-by notice that a large number of sick cases are children.
These children are almost identical in their illness symptoms, which range from vomiting, intestinal infections, severe abdominal pain, and respiratory infections.
Medical sources attribute these symptoms and health complications to children not receiving their regular vaccinations, which protect them from these diseases.
The mother of the twin children, Mahmoud and Ibrahim Abu Jaser (8 months), complains that her children did not receive the periodic vaccine scheduled for them at the age of 6 months.
The mother (who did not reveal her name) told Anadolu Agency: I do not know how I will obtain these vaccines, and I do not know what will happen to them because of the delay in providing them with them.
Today, the twin children are complaining of vomiting and severe diarrhea, accompanied by a high fever, according to their mother.
The mother explains that the treatments prescribed by doctors for sick children are not available in the hospital, while it is impossible to dispense them from abroad because there are no pharmacies due to the war.
She continues: Even the solution that is formulated for children inside the hospital is hardly found.
The mother of the twins demanded that the war be stopped, adding: We do not demand anything except to live in peace and security.
She pointed out that the war deprived her of communicating with her family in the south of the Gaza Strip for more than 3 months, pointing out that her mother’s sister’s family was killed by Israeli targeting and she was unable to say goodbye to them.
Mental state
The mother of the child, Nesma Al-Majdalawi, who suffers from diarrhea and severe colic, says that the majority of children she knows suffer from these same health symptoms.
The mother (who did not reveal her name) added to Anadolu: The situation of children in the northern governorates is very difficult. They do not find treatment, food, safe drinking water, nor clothes or blankets to protect them from the cold weather. Who will bear responsibility for them now?
She explained that the psychological state that children are going through, especially with the loss of their parents and a number of their family members, exacerbates the deterioration of their health conditions.
She continued: My child, Nessma, her health condition began to deteriorate after her father’s martyrdom.
The girl’s mother called on Arab and Western countries to look compassionately at the children of Gaza, and said: They no longer have a future in light of these diseases and the state of hunger in which they live.
Difficult conditions
Amid the interruption of regular vaccinations, children in the northern Gaza areas are suffering from deteriorating health due to the lack of means and necessities of life.
The girl Maryam Fasfous (11 years old) is one of these children, as she suffers from dehydration.
The girl’s mother (who did not reveal her name) told Anadolu: It is less than a month old and my child needs to receive vaccinations, and today they are not available, and I fear that her health condition will deteriorate.
She explains that the difficult living conditions her family lives in in the town of Jabalia (north) exacerbate the deterioration of her child’s health condition.
She adds: Our house is destroyed and uninhabitable, but as much as possible we tried to stay in it to shelter ourselves instead of heading to shelter centers.
He pointed out that a few days ago, a cement stone fell on her child’s face and she was injured, and she also suffers from difficulty breathing due to air pollution caused by smoke from shells and missiles, according to what she said.
Overcrowding in the care and children’s departments
In turn, hospital director Hossam Abu Safia said that the hospital is facing overcrowding and overcrowding of sick children, due to the absence of regular vaccinations.
He added: The absence of vaccination has a major role in exacerbating the conditions of these cases, especially since we are in the winter season and many infections spread in this season, as vaccines protected children from many diseases.
Abu Safiya explained that the accumulation of people in displacement areas creates conditions for the rapid spread of infection among children, at a time when the hospital suffers from a scarcity of capabilities, supplies, and medical personnel.
He explained that the children’s department inside the hospital includes a large number of hospitalized cases who could have recovered and improved if they had received vaccinations on time.
He continued: But the lack of these vaccinations in the northern regions led to crowding in this department and in the intensive care department as well.
He stated that a number of health complications and symptoms that affect children as a result of not receiving vaccines are in an advanced state and make them require intensive care.
Abu Safiya summarized the symptoms that affect children, saying: acute intestinal infections, and the infection of children under 6 months with a virus that infects the bronchial tubes.
He warned of the spread of new diseases that may affect children in the next few days if regular vaccinations are not provided.
He pointed out that the hospital received promises to activate a schedule and plan for periodic vaccinations in the areas of northern Gaza, without revealing its date.
Spread of epidemics
Regarding the spread of epidemics among children, Abu Safiya said that this occurs as a result of their overcrowding in shelter centers with the absence of hygiene factors.
He continued: Also, the lack of healthy food provided to children is an essential factor for the occurrence and spread of infection and its poor development.
He explained that the scarcity of clean, safe water necessary for infants to use in preparing formula milk, or necessary for drinking for children over two years old, contributes to the spread of diseases and the destruction of their body’s immunity.
Business challenges
Regarding the challenges facing Kamal Adwan Hospital, after it returned to work after being targeted and destroyed, Abu Safiya said: We suffer from a lack of medical supplies, consumables and devices, and a scarcity of medical staff, in light of the displacement of large numbers of them to the southern governorates.
He added: We returned to work, because there is no other hospital that provides services to the northern and Gaza governorates as well (Al-Shifa Medical Complex provides dialysis and primary medicine services).
Regarding the departments that returned to work at a minimum, Abu Safiya said: emergency and surgeries in various specialties, especially neurology and general surgery, care and nursery, the neurology department, women and obstetrics.
He pointed out that the administration is working on activating other departments, such as internal medicine, pointing out that this depends on their ability to provide the necessary medical personnel.
He stressed the importance of providing the necessary fuel to ensure the continued provision of these services, especially with regard to the work of the oxygen station and laboratories.
He called on the concerned authorities to provide them with the necessary health supplies, consumables and tools.
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on Gaza that has left more than 23,000 martyrs and more than 59,000 injured, most of them children and women, massive infrastructure destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, according to the Gaza Strip authorities and the United Nations.