Building a Pediatric Cardiology Department in Rantisi Pediatric Specialized Hospital
"If there is a hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza," the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, told the General Assembly on May 20th, during the bombing of the Gaza Strip, which resulted in over 65 children killed and many more injured. Since 2006, the closure of Gaza has impacted every aspect of the lives of its children, most significantly the health sector's ability to provide care. PCRF is a USA-registered nonpolitical, nonprofit humanitarian relief organization with 30 years of experience saving the lives of thousands of children in the Middle East. We do this by running a surgical patients affairs program, sponsoring international volunteer medical missions to local hospitals, running relief programs and projects, and building up medical infrastructure to develop a more independent and sustainable Palestinian healthcare system.
While international aid agencies - including PCRF - are responding to the basic humanitarian needs of the Gaza people following the latest bombings, the long-term needs of the health sector remain neglected by the international community. That is the reason in 2019 that PCRF opened the first and only pediatric cancer department in Gaza, to save the lives of children while at the same time reducing the dependency on external providers to treat Gaza's sick children, who are sent abroad without family support for weeks at a time. Hundreds of Gaza children with cancer now get expert care locally while at the same time saving the Palestinian economy millions of dollars a year.
Each year in Gaza, hundreds of babies are born with defective hearts that require urgent medical and surgical intervention, which is not available to them locally. In addition, the local pediatricians and pediatric cardiologists, who are the first to respond to these sick children, do not have a hospital department or adequate equipment to properly diagnose and treat these sick babies, resulting in unnecessary complications and even death.
The goal of the "Save The Lives of Hundreds of Babies in Gaza" campaign is to raise $500,000 to build and equip a new pediatric cardiology department that will enable doctors to diagnose and treat children with congenital heart disease in Gaza. This project is at the Rantisi Specialized Pediatric Hospital. Its impact will be in both the lives saved and the long-term development of an essential specialization in the Gaza health system, which is currently missing.
You can make your tax-deductible donation here through our web page, or through a bank transfer at:
The Palestine Children's Relief Fund
PNC Bank
One Cascade Plaza, Akron, OH 44308
Account No. 4142915917
SWIFT Code PNCCUS33