Due to the existence of a large number of severely injured cases who were attacked by the Israeli troops during the Great March of Return, MOH has established a pain clinic to help to reduce the chronic pain of these patients in addition to managing the terminal cases through offering palliative care. As a result, the urgent need to establish a pain management clinic and Palliative Care in Gaza.
Dr. Ahmed Al-Daour, head of the anesthesiology department at the Al-Shifa Medical Complex and a pain therapist, said that the clinic was inaugurated and funded by the Norwegian Aid committee NORWAC and in cooperation with MOH in Gaza, at Shifa Medical Complex in 2019.
He added “it represents a new form of medical intervention for patients who are severely injured during the “Great March of Return”.
The local team at the clinic consists of two doctors, two nurses, one pharmacist, and one secretary. The team works within specific protocols to legalize drugs and use them safely and more effectively for patients. Explaining that patients go through several stages within the treatment protocol followed, which lasts for (3-6) months, estimated by the patient’s response to the treatment.
Dr. Ibrahim Murad Anesthesiologist, Intensive Care Anesthesiologist with a Pain management fellowship added, the goal of the project is to provide effective and available pain management treatment for patients suffering from acute and chronic pain. The main initial focus will be treating injured patients after the Great March of Return. Later, other categories of patients suffering from pain will be included.
The clinic is working within a computerized system, and dispensing medicines free of charge to patients in coordination with the General Administration of Pharmacy at the Ministry of Health, pointing that when patients reach the last stage of treatment, they are customized to live with the pain gradually and then stop taking drugs so that he does not pose a danger to himself or the community.