Tamer S. ABUJAME – Emergency Doctor – MdM in Palestine/Gaza

Meet Tamer, Our emergency doctor in Palestine/Gaza

 What do you do with MdM?

I work on emergencies, at many levels: from the Primary Health care centers to the hospitals and the Ministry of Health, to reinforce the procedure, the staff, and ultimately improve the response to any man-made or natural disaster and crisis.

• What keeps you going in your work,  especially that you are working in emergency cases

I have a goal: make Gaza ready for emergencies, by improving the protocols and procedures. We want to build a “national emergency preparedness plan”.

• Why did you decide to dedicate your time for this job?

Because the situation in Gaza strip is a chronic emergency situation and a protracted human dignity crisis.

• Do you have a story, a sentence that touched you during your interaction with the people?

During the last war, I was leading a medical consultation and a child who had lost his father in the war hugged me and said “We need you, please don’t leave us”

• What are the difficulties that you face on the field?

We are in a situation of chronic emergency and multiple repeated disasters, so we are in constant need of more psychosocial support. Besides, the economic situation in Gaza is a problem: most of the medical staff has to work without salaries. Finally, we face electricity and fuel shortages that also impact the health facilities.