A Scottish charity is to install three paediatric operating theatres in the West Bank to help hospitals meet demand for children’s surgery “for many years to come”.
Kids Operating Room has committed to establishing theatres in Bethlehem, Hebron and Jericho in existing hospitals.
Medics in the Palestinian territory say the current hospital infrastructure is struggling to cope with a rising need for paediatric surgery.
The charity uses a hub in Dundee to assemble medical equipment for paediatric facilities in countries experiencing humanitarian crises.
It recently installed six theatres in Ukraine which can be powered by solar energy, meaning they can continue working during blackouts.
The first theatre in the West Bank will be built at Al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron.
Kids Operating Room is launching an appeal to raise £320,000 to help fund the facility.
Staff have already visited the site to assess how the new theatre will function.
David Cunningham, chief executive of Kids Operating Room, said: “Safe surgery is not a temporary requirement, it is a permanent part of a functioning health system.
“Children across the West Bank face significant barriers to accessing safe surgery and these operating rooms are designed to international clinical standards and built to serve communities for decades.
“These facilities represent a permanent step forward for children’s healthcare across the West Bank.
“These theatres will change that, giving hospitals the specialist infrastructure they need to treat children safely, close to home.”
Dr Yousef Takrouri, general director of Al-Ahli Hospital, said: “Over the past few years, the demand for children’s surgery in the West Bank has grown far beyond what our hospital can manage.
“We have skilled staff and committed teams, but we simply do not have enough dedicated space to treat children safely.
“As a result, too many children are waiting in pain for operations that could and should be done much sooner.
“This project with Kids Operating Room will give us the facilities we need to care for children properly – not just now, but for many years to come.”
