After the “Freedom Flotilla” was stopped from entering Gaza, Israel reported that many of the medicines intended for that territory were past their expiration dates.
Now, in a report by Al-Jazeera, a Gaza health ministry official confirms that various countries and organizations frequently donate expired and useless medical supplies, which end up in garbage dumps. Only about 30 percent of the medical aid is usable.
According to the official: “A certain country sent ten truckloads of medicine, accompanied by an official delegation, but all these medicines were past their expiration date.”
And the Al Jazeera reporter adds that sending these unusable supplies is somewhat worse than harmless: “In Gaza, the decomposition of these medicines creates a huge problem, in the absence of incinerators or designated places. Even if the sick are saved from this medicine, the environment will definitely not be spared their perils and catastrophic effects, above and below the ground.”
