A campaign against drugs was launched by Gaza's interior ministry last month targeting tramadol tablets which are widely used by youth in the Sector. Tramadol is a drug prescribed by doctors as a pain killer; however it is widely misused by drug addicts as a replacement drug. Opium, marijuana and various other kinds of drugs are in short supply in Gaza as a result of the strict anti-drug campaigns carried out by the ministry of interior. This drug is imported officially by the ministry of health in Gaza and by several pharmaceutical companies; however it is also widely imported by drug dealers through smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. Despite strict monitoring of the tunnels, smugglers use several tricks to deceive security officers in order to get the drug into the country. Regarding the purpose of this campaign, the spokesman of the ministry of interior in Gaza Islam Shahwan said: "It aims at ending the destructive effects of tramadol which may have a psycho...

Health facilities in the Gaza Strip face a serious shortage of drugs and medical supplies. In late September, 36% of essential drugs were lacking. While MSF makes regular donations, no aid actor can meet the full range of needs. The Israeli embargo of the Gaza Strip, which began in 2007, together with years of financial crisis within the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and the chronic lack of cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and Gaza authorities, have caused harm and threaten Gaza's health system and its patients. Last spring, drug companies stopped supplying the Palestinian Authority. The situation, which had been worsening steadily for several years, deteriorated further in 2011 and has reached an alarming level. As Israeli bombs struck the Gaza Strip in mid-August, local health authorities called on international aid actors working in the area for help. Since that time, they have asked for donations on a regular, long-term basis. However, no humanitarian actor – ...

EL-ARISH, Egypt ( Ma'an ) -- Four tons of medical equipment donated by a British charity arrived Thursday in Egypt's Alexandria port en route to the Gaza Strip, head of the Egyptian Red Crescent Jaber Al-Arabi said. Al-Arabi said the UK-based Palestinian Center for Justice sent five truckloads of aid, including 35 hydraulic beds and electrocardiogram equipment, to be delivered by the Red Crescent via the Rafah crossing. The shipment will arrive in Gaza on Saturday, he added. Meanwhile the Islamic Relief Committee in New Zealand sent 100 tons of meat to Gaza and Egyptian companies sent four tons of aid for pregnant women and children, Al-Arabi said, adding that the goods would arrive Friday. Al-Arabi said the union of Egyptian doctors also donated around 25 tons of medicine and medical equipment which would be delivered to the coastal enclave in the coming days. Maan

Yet another indication of the dire circumstances in which human beings are expected to exist in Israel's open-air prison called Gaza, is shown by the fact that the use of painkillers to dull the senses and blot out the daily hardships is widespread in the Strip. Now Hamas is clamping down. GAZA–Gaza's Hamas rulers burned nearly 2 million painkiller pills Tuesday that many Gazans take recreationally because they say it relaxes them and provides temporary relief from the territory's hardships. The drug disposal at a hospital incinerator comes days after the Islamic militant group confiscated cigarettes from Gaza shops to collect taxes on them. Hamas Health Minister Basim Naim said authorities burned some 1.7 million Tramadol pills seized from smugglers who sneak it by tunnel under the Egyptian border. The powerful painkiller is related to morphine and heroin but most countries do not treat it as a controlled substance. Experts have said those who stop taking the drug after r...