Long days, perhaps months, Gazan patients had to wait to leave the territory for treatment abroad due to lack of medicines and the equipment necessary to treat them. This led to the death of more than 200 patients while waiting permission to leave. Gazan doctors are now performing daring and unprecedented operations to overcome this issue that is posing a heavy burden on the Ministry of Health and Gaza patients alike.

Despite sharp shortages of medicines and equipment, Gaza doctors have been able to perform complicated operations successfully rivaling international hospitals in performance. Doctors at the European Hospital in Gaza performed 9,230 surgeries including some 1,475 successful cardiac catheterizations.
These operations spared the residents of Gaza the financial and logistic burden of travel abroad, in addition to the hassle of having to wait a long time for an Israeli permission to leave by the Israeli occupation.
Khalid Radi, spokesman for the Ministry of Health said that his Ministry embarked on a comprehensive plan to stop sending patients abroad explaining that such operations drain about 50% of the Ministry’s yearly budget.
Radi added that the Ministry would not have thought of such a plan had not the surgeons been highly qualified. He stressed that great efforts are being made to make the program a success in cooperation with international organizations. He said that Gaza hospitals have been able to perform complicated operations such as catheterizations and reattaching limbs.

The Ministry of Health began to coordinate with international medical teams to visit Gaza and perform the surgeries at the local hospital. This allowed for the training of local doctors to perform the same procedures.
Dr. Hasan Khalaf, assistant deputy, received a delegation of Palestinian doctors from 1948 occupied Palestinian lands headed by Dr. Salah Yahia. The doctors performed some highly specialized operations in sensitive areas such as cancer and bone transplants at the European Hospital.
Yahia said that the visit aimed at exchanging medical experiences from which the health sector benefited much . He suggested inviting some Gazan doctors into the 1948 occupied areas to train at local hospitals.
The Ministry of Health had invited international medical delegations to perform a large number of surgeries like the Turkish and the French delegations.

In besieged Gaza and at the hands of local doctors, the Ministry of Health was able to perform quantum leaps in quality surgeries. Dr. Naser Abu Shaban, Scope Surgery Specialist, and Dr. Mahmoud Ghnaim, eye retina specialist, were among the most successful doctors at the Ministry.

Moreover, the Preventive Medicine General Administration had a number of achievements in their field. Despite the siege, the General Administration was able to provide Gaza residents with the essential mechanism for preventive medicines such as epidemic preventions, inoculation services, food inspections, and a laboratory for general and professional health. In addition, the Ministry ran general education programs for the public.
Through these mechanisms, the Preventive Medicine Department was able to maintain a balanced standard for general health where reports showed a general decline in microbes in the territory. The PMD was able to participate in fighting Bird Flu epidemic which was defeated in 2006, as well as providing the pilgrims with the necessary health services such as inoculation for meningitis.
Furthermore, the Department was able to develop the performance of workers and staff both administratively and scientifically through keeping up with the latest developments in their fields and through sending delegations for training abroad. Additionally, the Department signed a number of understandings with Arab and foreign countries to facilitate technical duties accurately, all to achieve a healthy Palestinian society free from disease.