SAFA-  Shifa Medical Complex Director Dr. Mohammad Abu Salmiya warned Sunday that severe shortages of medicines, medical supplies, diagnostic equipment, and critical infrastructure are placing further strain on Gaza’s healthcare system.

Abu Salmiya said shortages of essential medicines have exceeded 52%, while shortages of medical consumables have reached 70% and laboratory supplies more than 80%.

More than 80% of X-ray, CT, and MRI equipment has been lost across Gaza, leaving only one functioning CT scanner in the northern Gaza Strip to serve more than 1 million people.

Around 21,000 patients and injured people require treatment outside Gaza, including 4,000 cancer patients requiring chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and specialized diagnostic tests.

More than 10,000 injured people also require advanced surgical care, including reconstructive orthopedic, neurosurgical, cardiac, and vascular procedures.

The crisis is also affecting patients with chronic illnesses. Around 350,000 patients are not receiving their medications regularly, including approximately 71,000 people with diabetes facing shortages of treatment and monitoring supplies. Among them are about 2,500 children with diabetes who require daily testing to adjust their treatment doses.

Abu Salmiya warned that repeated generator breakdowns, coupled with shortages of fuel, oil, and spare parts, are threatening critical hospital services. A shortage of replacement parts for oxygen plants is also putting intensive care units, neonatal incubators, operating rooms, and emergency departments at risk.

He warned that continued shortages could further deteriorate Gaza’s health and humanitarian conditions and called for the urgent entry of medicines, medical supplies, generator spare parts, and oxygen-plant components.