According to the statistical report issued by the Palestinian Health Information Center (PHIC) at the Ministry of Health on the World Heart Day, the mortality rate of heart patients in Gaza last year amounted to 29% of the number of deaths, while the number of patients who underwent cardiac catheterization in the governmental hospitals 3882 patients, and 1446 operations in non-governmental hospitals.
Director of the PHIC Mr. Hani Alwahidi said that open heart operations conducted during the past year reached (70) operations in Shifa Hospital and (21) operations in the European Gaza Hospital.
Where Dr. Bassam Nassar, Director of Medical Consumables Department at the General Administration of Pharmacy, said that the percentage of shortages of medical supplies in cardiac catheterization departments was 60%, of which 116 items are zero and the rest of the instruments are sterilized and re-used.