Rehabilitation of the Women and Maternity Department at Kuwaiti Specialised Hospital

Project Location: Rafah Governorate – Gaza Strip – Palestine

Beneficiary Category: Residents of Rafah Governorate, currently estimated at approximately 1.5 million people

Health Situation in the Project Area:

Since the beginning of the Zionist aggression on the Gaza Strip 119 days ago, the enemy has pursued a policy of forced displacement of the population towards Gaza’s southern governorates through various means. This includes murdering the health personnel in the northern Gaza Strip and directly targeting hospitals and health centres. With the onset of the attack on Khan Yunis Governorate in the southern Gaza Strip about a month and a half ago, most of its residents have fled it, including those who fled from Gaza and the North, towards Rafah Governorate. This led to an increase in Rafah’s population to about 5 times its original number, making the health situation in the governorate catastrophic and complex, particularly given the lack of human, medical, and logistical resources.

The latest statistics indicate the presence of more than 50,000 pregnant women in shelter centres in the Gaza Strip, with a daily birth rate of about 180 cases. The vast majority of the pregnant women suffer from malnutrition and general health problems due to the harsh conditions they experience in the shelter centres, whether in shelter schools or tents. There is no health facility in Rafah Governorate that provides women and maternity medical services except for the Emirati Hospital, which cannot cover the large number of daily cases. Statistics also indicate the presence of more than 60,000 breastfeeding women in shelter centres at the moment who are in need of immediate life-saving preventive, therapeutic, and nutritional interventions.

The Kuwaiti Specialised Hospital is deemed the most important charitable hospital that provides health services to citizens, alongside the only government hospital in Rafah Governorate. The geographic presence of the Kuwaiti Hospital in the heart of Rafah Governorate has strengthened its role, therefore placing on it the burden of providing medical services and healthcare for most of the population and displaced people in the governorate. This prompted the hospital management to take several steps, adopt necessary plans to address this crisis, and attempt to address its future consequences. One of these steps is to provide women and maternity services in the hospital.

Project Idea:

This project aims to provide women and maternity services to citizens and displaced women in Rafah Governorate. The hospital has a designated space for such a section, but it requires rehabilitation, including internal doors, windows, lighting, sanitary tools, painting, curtains, and false ceilings.

Objectives:

1. Contribute to providing medical services to the residents of Rafah Governorate and those displaced to it at the appropriate time and place.

2. Contribute to providing healthcare services to women in general and pregnant women in particular.

3. Contribute to providing maternity services in suitable medical conditions.

Project Justifications:

1. The significant emergency increase in the population of Rafah Governorate due to waves of forced migration and displacement.

2. The presence of more than 50,000 pregnant women in shelter centres in the Gaza Strip, with over 180 childbirth cases daily.

3. Most women, especially pregnant ones, suffer from malnutrition and other health effects due to the difficult conditions they experience in shelter centres and displacement camps.

Project Outcomes:

1. Equipped delivery room with a capacity of 2 beds.

2. Two postnatal care rooms, each with a capacity of 4 beds.

3. Obstetrician’s room and midwives’ room

4. Two equipped bathrooms for bathing.

Positive Impacts of the Project:

1. Enhancement of public health among citizens and displaced women in Rafah Governorate.

2. Reduction of the spread of diseases, epidemics, and postpartum complications among women.

3. Preservation of women’s dignity by receiving them in places suitable for providing various medical services.

Video for the Project after completion:

https://youtu.be/zIncPRCrTrQ

Together We Can.