Last spring, many of our supporters contributed generously to the Palestine Medical Relief Campaign. The campaign, launched in conjunction with the Canadian Palestinian Organizations Coalition (CPOC), ultimately gifted $165,000 to provide medical equipment to help the Palestinians respond to the COVID crisis.

Today, we’re thrilled to announce that the equipment has been delivered and is now helping the Palestinian health care system respond to the ongoing COVID pandemic. Our thanks to the International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF), the Canadian charity with partners in Palestine which enabled the project on the ground.

See the 8-page project report here.

Above-left: A portion of the equipment - including two ventilators - is delivered to Hayfa Medical Hospital in Gaza. Above-right: IDRF's partners on the ground assemble the equipment prior to installation.

And, of course, thanks and congratulations to the many of you who made this humanitarian relief possible! If you donated to the PMRC in 2020, the charitable tax receipts went in the mail last week.

Through this project, four Lyra x1 Ventilators, two OMNI III Medical Monitors and two D500 Defibrillators were put into operation in Palestine. The equipment was allocated with the guidance of the Palestinian Ministry of Health as follows:

• Hayfa Charity Hospital: Located in Eastern Gaza Strip, serving more than 8,000, patients per month, this hospital received 2 ventilators, a defibrillator, and a monitor. Hayfa has the only fully equipped ICU in eastern Gaza.
• European Gaza Hospital: Serving Rafah and Khan Younis, this hospital received one ventilator and one monitoring screen. This hospital is the main hospital in Gaza for COVID-19 patients.
• Yaffa Medical Hospital: Serving Deir El Balah in Gaza, this hospital provides free medical services to the poor, and received one defibrillator.
• Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza: Also serving poorer communities, this hospital received one ventilator.

What's Next?

Palestine, like much of the rest of the world, is still in the throes of dealing with the pandemic. Because of increased hospitalizations, and increased use of ventilators, Gaza is now suffering from a severe shortage of medical oxygen – a problem also in the US, Mexico, Nigeria and other countries.

The CJPME Foundation, the PSAC Social Justice Fund and their allies are launching the “Help Gaza Breathe” project to help eastern Gaza procure new oxygen generating equipment, along with storage tanks, and a filling unit. The equipment will be installed at the Hayfa Medical Hospital and will support the hospital as well as nearby medical facilities. More information can be found on the “Help Gaza Breathe” webpages (http://HelpGazaBreathe.ca)

Please consider donating to the “Help Gaza Breathe” project – all donations are tax deductible! The CJPME Foundation will be launching more publicity around the new campaign in the coming weeks, but the project’s Webpages are already available to take donations!