Doctors appeal to Israeli government to let in Gazan cancer patients

Some 31 Israeli oncologists appeal to the Health Ministry and COGAT, the Israeli government’s liaison agency to the Palestinians, asking that they allow cancer patients in Gaza who need urgent treatment to leave the Palestinian enclave for treatment in Israel and the West Bank.

The doctors say it is becoming increasingly difficult to care for Gazans who need regular treatments. They say that by tightening the policies on who can leave Gaza, Israel is hurting the patients.

According to Physicians for Human Rights, at least 14 women suffering from cancer in the Gaza Strip are currently waiting to enter Israel for treatment, the Haaretz daily reports. Seven of the women have breast cancer and four have thyroid cancer. Three others have tumors on their spine, lungs or kidneys.

Earlier diagnosis and treatment are key to “recovery and the ability to ease suffering in cancer patients, and on the other hand, there is no doubt that delaying the screening and treatment can lead to an advance of the disease and death that could be prevented,” the doctors wrote. “There is no justification for delaying the requests by patients for long months.”

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