QRCS launches surgical convoy in West Bank

The representation mission of Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) in West Bank and Jerusalem is carrying out a surgical convoy programme, which will benefit children born with cleft lip/palate and patients with renal disease.

The programme, in co-operation with Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), has a total budget of $182,067 (QR663,634) and aims to alleviate the suffering of patients who need urgent surgical intervention. It will also help develop the surgery departments at PRCS hospitals with medical and surgical equipment, reducing the patients on waiting lists for specialised surgeries, and saving them the high costs of treatment.

According to the action plan, surgeries are performed by local surgeons in the specialisations of urology for 50 patients and cleft lip/palate surgery for 60 children.

Varying from minor to medium-level cases, the beneficiaries were selected from the waiting lists of the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH). The project is hosted by PRCS hospitals in the cities of Al-Bireh and Hebron.

So far, some 28 and 31 surgeries have been performed for urology patients and cleft lip/palate patients respectively. At the same time, the list of medical equipment required for the target surgery departments was developed, and is currently being procured from the suppliers contracted under a public tender prior to the project’s start.

According to QRCS, this project addresses many issues suffered by the health care sector in the West Bank, including lack of qualified medical professionals and supplies, the many surgery delays or cancellations due to excessive demand on surgical services at MoH hospitals, and the high costs of treatment that the patients cannot afford, which may cause health complications.