Save the Children, with local partners in Egypt, and Community Jameel launch initiative to provide urgent medical care to pregnant mothers and newborn babies who have been evacuated from Gaza. The initiative supports the training of 100 clinical staff in Gaza for specialised treatment of up to 100,000 children wounded by explosive weapons, in addition to providing heavy bleeding packs and Paediatric Blast Injury Field Manuals. Community Jameel's contribution also supports the Centre for Paediatric Blast Injury Studies, launched in March 2023 at Imperial College London.
George Richards, director of Community Jameel says: “Children are seven times more likely than adults to die from blast injuries, and the horrifying toll in Gaza reflects this. Building on the pioneering work of the Paediatric Blast Injury Partnership, Community Jameel is supporting Save the Children and its partners to equip first responders in Gaza with the tools and training to treat children injured by explosive weapons – and to save children’s lives.”
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Thanks to this initiative, paediatric and maternal medical equipment and supplies will be provided to frontline staff and ambulance services in Egypt, enabling the Egyptian authorities to meet the critical needs of pregnant mothers and newborn babies who have been evacuated from Gaza. Save the Children continues to support the Ministry of Health and key Egyptian health actors to save lives in the region. Save the Children will also be supporting frontline health workers with some of the basics to cope with the immense psychological trauma emanating from the crisis in Gaza.
In addition, up to 100 clinical staff in Gaza will be trained to provide specialist treatment and care for up to 100,000 children injured by explosive weapons.
Community Jameel’s funding will help to train and equip cohorts of clinical staff in Gaza, initially remotely via webinar as Save the Children facilitated for medics in Ukraine earlier this year, to support on specialist care for children impacted by blast and trauma injuries. In addition, 1,000 first responder packs for civilians will be distributed in Gaza to enable the community to respond to children injured by explosive injuries with basic control of heavy bleeding packs (CatCH Pack).