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Young lives are fragile, especially those of premature babies at Maqassed Hospital’s neonatal unit in Jerusalem. Through a long-time partnership with ANERA, which assists hospitals such as this one located on the Mount of Olives, AmeriCares is providing donations of medicines that go a long way in helping these children lead healthy lives.
AmeriCares donates a variety of medicines to ANERA, which are used to treat a variety of conditions, including respiratory complications that could result in life-long afflictions. Today, because of one particular medication, premature babies are able to avoid the common side-effects of prolonged exposure to artificial ventilation.
As Dr. Abdel Lateef Khateeb, a doctor at Maqassed’s neonatal ward explained, “It is possible to get a chronic lung condition when there is prolonged use of oxygenated ventilation. The smaller the child is, the more susceptible they are to contracting such a disease. And if the problem is not treated, as they grow, these patients will have hypersensitive airways.”
Maqassed Hospital treats many impoverished Palestinians who simply do not have the means to afford medicines. One tiny girl who is benefiting from the AmeriCares-ANERA partnership is Ahlam Alan. Her mother gave birth in the seventh month of her pregnancy, and Ahlam was immediately placed in an incubator. Now, two months later, she weighs five and a half pounds.
“She’s responded very well,” said Raghada, one of the nurses at Maqassed. “Her family comes daily to check on her, and they are happy she’s healthy.”
AmeriCares has been partnering with ANERA since 1993, delivering regular shipments of medicine to support ANERA’s work throughout Gaza and the West Bank, Lebanon