{"id":20586,"date":"2023-11-02T13:23:51","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T20:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/?p=20586"},"modified":"2023-11-02T13:23:51","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T20:23:51","slug":"loop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/loop\/","title":{"rendered":"UCSF medical professionals describe \u2018horrors\u2019 in Gaza, call for ceasefire and aid"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"UCSF
Dr. Jess Ghannam speaks at a press conference calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in front of UCSF Parnassus Heights in San Francisco, CA, Wednesday, October 31, 2023. (Joshua Picazo via Bay City News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Joshua Picazo. Bay City News<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Medical professionals at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center held a press conference calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The conflict, which began on October 7 following Hamas attacks on Israel, has resulted in thousands of civilian casualties as the Israel Defense Forces continues retaliatory measures, including a blockade of Gaza.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nearly all speakers at the event called for an immediate ceasefire, explaining that the ongoing war is causing extreme difficulties in providing care to patients in Gaza, as well as causing additional loss of life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a moral imperative for the global medical community to call for an immediate ceasefire and the protection of an already devastated health care infrastructure in Gaza,\u201d said Dr. Jess Ghannam, clinical professor of Psychiatry and Global Health Sciences at the UCSF School of Medicine. \u201cDoctors and health care providers are unable to provide care. Basic medical supplies are not arriving. The devastation of health care infrastructure is occurring at every level and in every sector of Gaza right now.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The mental health aspects of war were also on the minds of doctors at the news conference, noting the toll it can take, especially on children.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the local level, anyone who experiences the risk of losing the lives of their loved ones is going to experience flashbacks of these bombs that they\u2019re experiencing,\u201d said Dr. Amin Azzam, a professor of psychiatry at UCSF\u2019s Weill Institute for Neurosciences, regarding the emotional issues faced by children in proximity to war. \u201cThat has lasting trauma from childhood into adulthood, so you have a hard time forming healthy adult relationships as a result of the trauma you experience as a child, if you survive at all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

UCSF's Dr. Leigh Kimberg said the lack of supplies and contaminated water will likely lead to cholera outbreaks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe situation is so desperate that people contact us whenever they have a moment of internet connection with questions that have no solution, such as 'How do you treat severe dehydration without water?'\u201d he stressed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no words powerful enough to describe the magnitude of the courage and compassion of our Palestinian medical colleagues as they refuse to abandon their patients,\u201d Kimberg said. \u201cAs a physician, a mother, a person whose Jewish ancestors fled anti-Semitic violence and pogroms, and as a human being, I call on all physicians, healthcare workers, and healthcare institutions around the world to respond to this genocide with a firm and unwavering commitment to our sacred oath.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kimberg also called for an immediate ceasefire and safe passage for medical and humanitarian aid.<\/span><\/p>\n

Doctors at the press conference also stressed the well-being of mothers and pregnant women.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWomen are forced to give birth without anesthesia,\u201d said Dr. Nadia Elkarra, director of Clinical Research Operations at Stanford University. \u201cIf we do not intervene immediately, maternal and neonatal mortality rates are poised to rise even further amid this humanitarian crisis. I am here today as a voice for the lives we have the power to save.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rupa Mayra, co-founder of the Do No Harm coalition, which co-organized the conference, said her colleagues hear medical professionals in Gaza describe \u201cclinical horrors.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSilence now is unacceptable complicity. Our doctors, nurses and healthcare colleagues in Gaza are under direct attack and are asking for our help,\u201d Mayra explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You may be interested in:<\/strong> Threat of genocide to continue massacre in Gaza: T\u00e9moris Grecko<\/a><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Por Josu\u00e9 Picazo. Bay City News. Profesionales m\u00e9dicos del Centro M\u00e9dico de la Universidad de California en San Francisco celebraron una conferencia de prensa pidiendo un alto el fuego inmediato en Gaza entre Israel y Ham\u00e1s.\u00a0\u00a0 El conflicto, que comenz\u00f3 el 7 de octubre tras los ataques de Hamas contra Israel, ha provocado miles de […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":20587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20586","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cover","8":"category-usworld"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20586"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20591,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20586\/revisions\/20591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}