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Middle East Eye
2 days ago
- Health
- Middle East Eye
UK urged to move fast after PM signs off on receiving wounded Gaza children
A British organisation bringing children from Gaza to the United Kingdom for medical treatment has called on the UK government to "urgently operationalise" a plan to bring 30 wounded children after the prime minister announced further evacuations late on Friday. In a recorded video, Keir Starmer said that the UK had "put millions of pounds of aid into Gaza", including an extra £40m this year, but "that help is not getting in". "So we are scaling up our work. We are accelerating efforts to evacuate children from Gaza who need critical medical assistance, bringing them to the UK for specialist medical treatment," he said. Starmer's comments were welcomed by the UK-based Project Pure Hope (PPH), which brought the first two - and, so far, the only - Palestinian children from Gaza to the UK for treatment earlier this year in partnership with the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund. The two girls, Rama, 12, and Ghena, five, came to the UK from Egypt with congenital conditions and have been receiving life-saving treatment in the private wings of leading London hospitals, funded entirely by charitable donations. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Over a month ago, PPH asked the government to help facilitate and fund a cohort of 20-40 acutely ill and suffering children to come directly from Gaza to the UK, and had been awaiting a decision. Now, with Starmer's sign off, PPH is urging the government to move quickly, saying it has already paved the way for such evacuations with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Israeli and Jordanian authorities, and could activate its plan to bring the group of children immediately. "Time is of the essence," said Omar Din, one of PPH's co-founders. "Every day of delay risks the lives and futures of children who deserve a chance to recover and rebuild." MPs pressure government Starmer's announcement came after nearly three dozen cross-party MPs called on the government to help facilitate legal pathways and also help with the costs for Palestinian children coming to the UK for treatment. The WHO estimates that at least 12,000 adults and children need to leave Gaza for specialised care. With a short list of countries willing to take them and Israeli authorities limiting those permitted to leave the enclave, aid workers and doctors say people are dying before they can get out. One major obstacle to bring Palestinian children from Gaza to the UK for medical treatment has been the difficulty in obtaining visas that require biometrics. The UK closed its only authorised biometric registration centre in Gaza in October 2023, leaving the nearest visa applications centres in Egypt and Jordan. In a 25 July letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the MPs recalled the case of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani campaigner for girl's education, who received life-saving surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham in 2012, four days after she was shot by the Taliban. Children will die quickly amid 'genocidal starvation' in Gaza, warns top famine expert Read More » The MPs, led by Labour's Sam Rushworth and including International Development Committee chair Sarah Champion, said the precedent "demonstrates what can be achieved with international co-ordination and political will". "If the government is not willing to defer biometric registration until arrival in the UK, we exhort you to work with the WHO, COGAT and the Jordanian government to secure passage to the consulate in Amman, where the relevant biomatrics check can be done prior to flying to the UK," they wrote. The MPs also raised the question of funding. With National Health Services facilites used, the government would apply the NHS tariff plus 150 percent surchage, meaning "costs can run to hundreds of thousands of pounds per patient", they said. They noted the role the UK had played in supporting just under half a million people to receive essential healthcare in Gaza and funding a polio vaccine campaign. "Could [Official Development Assistance] not be used to likewise support life-saving health care 'at cost' in the UK? Paediatric specialists around the UK stand ready to help," they wrote. "From the 669 children rescued by Sir Nicolas Winton on the Kindertransport 86 years ago, to the more recent Home for Ukraine scheme, the British people expect our country to play our part." Din told MEE that, in order to get started with bringing the group of children, his organisation is waiting for the government to confirm details, including funding and timing. MEE asked the Foreign Office on Monday when the government planned to start evacuating the children from Gaza, if it would allocate funding for their treatment, and whether their evacuations would be organised through a scheme like the one for the Ukrainians, but did not receive an immediate answer. On Tuesday, Din is scheduled to travel to Cairo to pick up Majd, the third child that PPH will bring to the UK for private medical treatment. "Whilst the UK scheme is getting off the ground, we carry on with our privately funded work," he said.
Middle East Eye
21-07-2025
- Health
- Middle East Eye
Children in Gaza die as David Lammy says UK is 'happy to do more' to help
Urged in parliament to do more for Palestinian children in Gaza who need medical treatment, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said last week he would be "happy to do more" if requests were made to bring them to the UK. There is, in fact, a request on the table that is still awaiting a decision. A British coalition of doctors, lawyers and humanitarians asked the government over a month ago to facilitate and help fund a group of 20 to 40 Palestinian children to receive treatment in the UK that is no longer available in Gaza's devastated healthcare system. The request from Project Pure Hope (PPH) comes as children with treatable conditions who have been proposed for medical evacuation are dying before they make it out. UN data shows Israeli authorities have drastically limited the number of patients permitted to leave the Palestinian enclave in recent months. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters According to the World Health Organization, at least 12,000 adults and children need to leave Gaza for specialised care, but only 33 were evacuated last month, with just 23 having left in July so far. Since Israel's war on Gaza began, over 7,000 Palestinians have been evacuated. Mostly to Egypt, the UAE and Qatar, with Jordan, European countries - particularly Italy, Spain and Romania - and the US taking much of the rest. The United Kingdom has taken just two. Rama, 12, and Ghena, five, arrived in April with assistance from PPH and the US-based Palestinian Children's Relief Fund. The girls have been treated in the private wings of leading London hospitals, funded entirely by charitable donations. Last week, Lammy told parliament's international development committee: "If there are more children we can work with [Project Pure] Hope and others to bring in, of course we will do that." Omar Din, one of PPH's co-founders, said Lammy's comments were "very welcome" and that the government has been supportive of individual cases PPH has highlighted. But now the initiative is pushing for more: unlike Ghena and Rama, who came to the UK from Egypt with congenital conditions, PPH is asking the UK to welcome a group of children directly from Gaza who have recently been wounded or are suffering acutely. "The only way we can do that is with government support," Din told Middle East Eye. 'We cannot now turn our back on the children of Gaza' - Sam Rushworth, Labour MP Their call for the UK to do more is being echoed by Labour MP Sam Rushworth, whose question during the committee hearing sparked Lammy's comments. "We honour the work of people like Sir Nicholas Winton, who helped refugee children escape from the Nazis, and more recently our 'Homes for Ukraine' scheme. We cannot now turn our back on the children of Gaza," Rushworth told MEE. "Both of those schemes required legal changes to serve a humanitarian purpose. So I am looking at what needs to change so Britain can open our hearts, hospitals, and homes if needs be to save innocent lives and relieve suffering." 'We couldn't move fast enough' The case of Haitim, a three-year-old suffering severe burns, shows exactly why Project Pure Hope believes it's important to make the pathways for Gaza's children to the UK easier - and that evacuating several at once would increase efficiency. On 15 May, Haitim's home in southern Gaza was bombed, killing his father and pregnant mother instantly. The toddler survived, but 35 percent of his body was burned. When British plastic surgeon Victoria Rose met him at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, she worried. "He looked very scared. His eyelids were burnt," she said. "He was so little and it was such a big burn." Haitim was taken into an operating theatre where Rose and others cleaned his wounds and started dressing them. At this point, he became acutely unwell, spiking a temperature and developing an ulcer in his stomach. Haitim, three, sustained burns across 35 percent of his body after a bomb hit his family's home in southern Gaza (Dr Victoria Rose) Ulcers are a well-known consequence of burns, but it is very uncommon that they develop so quickly and in such a young child. "He needed a specialised paediatric burns unit," Rose said. The UK has some of the best burns units in the world, including one at the hospital where Rose works in London. As soon as she had met Haitim, she started calling colleagues in the unit and Project Pure Hope to see what could be done. If Rose could get Haitim to London, there would be a bed for him, she was told. A second boy, Karam, was also on PPH's radar. The one-year-old had been undergoing surgery in the European Hospital in southern Gaza when it was bombed. He required further surgery. So the plan was to bring both boys to the UK. But they would need visas and their biometrics would have to be taken. The nearest UK visa application centres where that could happen are in Egypt and Jordan. Ten children a day losing a limb in Gaza, warns UN-backed body Read More » Before those involved could get the boys to Jordan, the Italian government stepped in. MEE understands that, under an agreement between the EU and the WHO, Italy and other European countries are able to take patients without having to issue passports or visas. According to Rose all they needed in that case was approval for their evacuation from Cogat, the Israeli military unit overseeing movement logistics between Gaza and Israel. "For the Americans, it is the same," Rose said. "That can still take time, don't get me wrong. Children are dying on the evacuation list so it's not great, but what the UK do is put on another layer of bureaucracy." Din said: "We couldn't move fast enough. We tried very, very hard, but you do need government intervention in this and support. "We are really pleased of course that they are now safe and receiving treatment, but we did really want to treat them in the UK." Uphill battle Even without the UK's requirements, aid workers and doctors say it is a feat to evacuate Palestinians from Gaza for medical treatment. They say this is largely because Israeli authorities, who must sign off on all evacuations, make it hard and because there are so few countries willing to accept patients and exert required political pressure to get them out. Médicines Sans Frontiers said last week that since the start of the war it has only been able to evacuate 22 patients for medical care. "This list originally [included] hundreds of patients and we were blocked with no response from the countries we were approaching," said Hani Isleem, MSF's project coordinator for medical evacuations from Gaza. To seek treatment abroad, patients first register with the Palestinian health ministry and the World Health Organization. Then a list is provided to countries to pick which patients they will be best suited to help. 'You have to coordinate with Israel. You have to coordinate with Jordan. So it's really complicating the system even more' - Amande Bazerolle, Médicines Sans Frontiers' emergency coordinator in Gaza Once a country has picked who it wants to evacuate, Cogat has to sign off on their departure. Since Israel closed the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza in May 2024, aid workers say it has been much more difficult to get patients evacuated and that it has become even more challenging in the past few months. Amande Bazerolle, MSF's emergency coordinator in Gaza, said evacuations have "dropped completely". Bazerolle told MEE that since June it has been "very difficult" for UN agencies and humanitarian organisations to engage with Israel about the evacuations as Israeli authorities focused on implementing aid distribution in the enclave through the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. "They were so focused with that, there was no other way to discuss and move forward," she said. Bazerolle also said that medical evacuation flights that were leaving from Ramon Airport in southern Israel have also been stopped recently. With the Rafah crossing still closed, that leaves Jordan as the location where medical evacuees must go to get out. "So you have to coordinate with Israel. You have to coordinate with Jordan because they are going to end up there before they can fly out to a third country. So it's really complicating the system even more," she said. A Cogat spokesperson told MEE that the Israeli army, through the agency, "is working to allow and faciliate the exit of patients and their escorts from Gaza through the sovereign territory of the State of Israel to third countries". "In this context, dozens of evacuations from the Gaza Strip through Israel to host countries around the world have been coordinated in recent months, most of them for patients in need of continued treatment outside the Gaza Strip," the spokesperson said. "As evidence, in recent weeks, over 2,000 patients and their escorts have exited the Gaza Strip for treatment in third countries, as well as Gazans holding dual citizenship or residency visas." The spokesperson did not immediately break down for MEE how many of the 2,000 figure were patients. The spokesperson added: "It should be emphasised that such passage is contingent upon a request from a third-party host country and the completion of an updated security screening conducted by the security authorities prior to entry into the sovereign territory of the state of Israel." A Palestinian medic cares for children who were injured in Israeli strikes at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on 15 May 2025 (AFP) Inevitably, Palestinian patients on the evacuation list are dying before they can get out of Gaza. But MEE understands that the exact number is not being recorded by the health ministry because the healthcare system is so disrupted that there is no capacity. What is clear is that the pace of evacuations is so slow that the WHO has said it will take years to work through the backlog at the current rate. "There is really a bottleneck," Bazerolle said. "But it starts with the countries. Saying they are going to take 20 patients? Thank you, but there are 12,000 patients actually." 'They are just children' Many, including Din and British politicians, have highlighted the support that the UK government has previously provided for those in need of medical care fleeing other conflicts. He and the other two co-founders of PPH have worked together in England's National Health Service for the past 15 years. "In the NHS, we've delivered care to Ukrainian, Syrian and Afghan refugees, in all of the crises that have taken place in the last few years. And we were very, very honoured and privileged to do that," he told MEE. "There is no reason why Palestinian children shouldn't have the same recourse to humanitarian support. What's the difference between a Ukrainian kid and a Palestinian kid? There is no difference. They are just children." Din said PPH has recently told British officials that trying to bring Palestinian children over individually was not a good system. 'The UK government has been incredibly generous in other cases. We are asking them to exercise that wonderful spirit for Palestinian children' - Omar Din, Project Pure Hope "The issue with it moving slowly is that the risk of mortality is very, very high. It's happened to us before where we had kids on our lists and they ended up dying before we could do anything. You have to move fast," he said. Scaling up the number of children received at once will, he acknowledged, require government funding to supplement more than £1m that PPH has already raised. "We are not diplomats, we are not the NHS, we aren't the government. We are ordinary citizens and we ask the government to step up to do what it has in its long history of being very generous in disaster aid work," he said. Din said the PPH "live by the fact that every child deserves hope". "That's number one. Secondly, we live by the fact that if you save one life, it's as though you saved the whole of humanity," he said. "Having said that, if you look at a practical level, the amount of effort it takes to get one or two children, you may as well have one cohort. There is a real efficiency to be had. And the UK government has been incredibly generous in other cases - we are asking them to exercise that wonderful spirit for Palestinian children." Rushworth, the MP for Bishop Auckland, said it was "heartbreaking to see children orphaned, suffering from starvation, maimed or injured - innocent victims of war and war crimes". In many, if not most, cases, he said, children will be better off treated closer to home and supported by surviving relatives. "I am only talking about cases where there is a real need for Britain to step up," he said. MEE asked the UK government whether it was seriously considering PPH's request, what might be holding it up and when a decision could be expected. The Foreign Office declined to comment on record.
India Today
27-06-2025
- Health
- India Today
Study explains why postpartum bleeding signals future heart problems
A new global study has found that women who experience severe bleeding after childbirth, also known as postpartum haemorrhage (PPH), face a higher risk of heart-related problems for up to 15 years after in The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, the research analysed data from more than 9.7 million women across countries like the UK, the US, Canada, South Korea, France, and Sweden. The study included data from 10 previous studies conducted between 1986 and shows that women who suffer from PPH are more likely to develop heart diseases such as heart failure, stroke, blood clots, and other serious cardiovascular conditions. WHAT THE STUDY FOUNDThe researchers found that:Women with PPH were 1.76 times more likely to face heart-related were 2.1 times more likely to develop blood clots (thromboembolic events).These health risks were highest in the first year after childbirth but can persist for up to 15 risk is even greater for women who had complications during pregnancy like preeclampsia (high blood pressure).ALL ABOUT THE CONDITIONPPH is already known as one of the leading causes of maternal death worldwide, accounting for about 20% of such 14 million women suffer from PPH each year. Until now, it was mostly seen as a short-term emergency. But the study conducted by reserachers from Indonesia shows that the effects could last much longer and silently increase the risk of heart Manggala Pasca Wardhana, the lead author from Airlangga University, Indonesia, said: 'PPH is usually treated as an emergency that ends once the bleeding is controlled. But our study shows it could have long-term impacts on a woman's heart health. Maternal care needs to continue even after childbirth.'WHAT CAN BE DONE?Doctors and researchers suggest that women who go through PPH should be offered routine heart check-ups as part of their postpartum check-ups aren't expensive and could help detect and prevent heart disease early."We need more research to understand why this happens and how we can reduce these risks. But for now, we know that paying closer attention to women after childbirth can save lives later," Dr. Fiqih Faizara Ustadi, another researcher from Airlangga University, limitation of the study was how it mainly covered high-income countries, so more research is needed to understand how PPH affects women in low- and middle-income countries, where access to medical care is often limited and the burden of PPH is greater.- Ends
BBC News
05-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Campaigners offer to run under-threat Preston pub building
A heritage campaign group fighting to save a derelict pub thought to be about 300 years old from demolition have offered to take over the management of the Tithebarn in Preston, Lancashire, called last orders in 2016 and the building is now "beyond viable repair", the city's council has said. The authority, which owns the building close to Preston bus station, has deemed it unsafe and recommended it for Glenn Cookson of Preserving Preston's Heritage (PPH) said the building had "rich history" and was exploring the viability of turning it into a museum. Councillor Martyn Rawlinson said the council "would be happy to work with the group if the project was feasible". Council deputy leader Martyn Rawlinson said the authority "would be happy to work with the group if the project is feasible". 'Passionate' Mr Cookson, director of marketing and communications at PPH, said he would be "really saddened" if the city was to lose the building, which is attached to Grade II-listed mill building next door, formerly known as Aladdin's Cove said it is was one of the first things passengers see when they arrive at the bus station and the group were "passionate" about protecting Cookson said the group was looking at setting up a community interest company and was in the early stages of exploring taking over the site, with an idea to use it as a heritage centre or people's history the Labour councillor for Fishwick and Frenchwood, who is the main spokesman for the Tithebarn site, said the council welcomed the offer and it would be part of the considerations when making a decision on its future at a cabinet meeting on 18 demolition is approved, bulldozers would move in over summer and, under another plan being considered, the site could make way for a new public green featuring trees, shrubs, grassed areas and seating. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
PPH, Big Pharma Stocks Volatile on Trump Drug Pricing
Big pharma stocks, as measured by the VanEck Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH), plunged Monday morning then recovered in afternoon trading as investors reacted to mixed messages about President Donald Trump's sweeping plan to cut prescription drug prices by as much as 80%. PPH top holdings like Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) and Johnson & Johnson Inc. (JNJ) fell as much as 4% in early trading. International pharmaceutical stocks like Novartis AG (NVS) and AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) also declined amid fears that U.S. policy changes could ripple across the global industry. However, major drugmakers staged a notable comeback in the afternoon as PPH closed 2% higher after the Trump administration released clarifying comments that eased some of the more severe concerns about how quickly and aggressively the pricing reforms would be implemented. This intraday rebound helped limit losses but underscored the policy sensitivity of the sector. President Trump's executive order introduces a "Most Favored Nation" (MFN) pricing policy, mandating that the U.S. pays no more for prescription drugs than the lowest price paid by other developed countries. The administration argues that Americans have long subsidized global pharmaceutical research and development through higher domestic prices. The order sets a 30-day deadline for drug manufacturers to propose price reductions, with further actions promised if significant progress isn't made within six months. Industry groups have criticized the move, warning it could stifle innovation and lead to reduced investment in new drug development. Looking ahead, the performance of the healthcare sector in 2025 will largely depend on two major variables: the direction of U.S. trade policy and the extent to which President Trump's aggressive prescription drug price reforms are implemented. While the pharmaceutical industry faces immediate headwinds, long-term outcomes will vary based on how negotiations between the federal government and drug manufacturers unfold. Big pharma stocks, heavily weighted in ETFs like PPH, are likely to remain under pressure in the short term. Valuation multiples may compress as investors price in the potential for lower U.S. revenues. However, if the policy rollout is watered down or delayed—as has often happened with healthcare legislation—and global demand for therapeutics remains strong, there may be room for a rebound later in the year. More broadly, the healthcare sector remains a key defensive allocation during periods of economic uncertainty. With the potential for a prolonged trade war, rising unemployment and tightening consumer budgets, investors may continue to rotate into sectors like healthcare, which historically outperform during late-cycle or recessionary periods. The sector's combination of non-cyclical demand, innovation potential and relative earnings stability makes it a compelling core holding for portfolios preparing for volatility. In summary, while headline risks around drug price reform may dominate in the near term, long-term investors could find opportunities in both pharmaceutical and biotechnology ETFs—provided they understand the policy risks, global trade implications and diversification potential that the healthcare sector | © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
