Health
Melanie Ward
The U.K.-based nonprofit Medical Aid for Palestinians was founded 40 years ago to improve Health care for all Palestinian people. So when war between Israel and Hamas broke out in the fall of 2023, CEO Melanie Ward knew her group would need to respond. “This is what the organization was built for,” she says.
Ward and her team started working immediately following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, arranging for Medical Aid for Palestinians’ warehouses in Gaza to begin distributing more than $500,000 worth of medical supplies over the next two days in anticipation of an Israeli response. Since then, the group has provided food, hygiene kits, blankets, mattresses, and around $7 million in medical supplies to people in Gaza. It has also sent six teams of international Health care workers into Gaza to provide on-the-ground support to local doctors desperately trying to treat massive numbers of injured people in a shrinking number of functional hospitals. Thanks to its team of local staff, Medical Aid for Palestinians is now one of the only international aid groups that still has a physical presence in northern Gaza, which has sustained the worst of the damage.
Ward’s role in all of this, she says, is figuring out how to “build the car and drive it at the same time,” directing the group’s overarching strategy while also making sure world leaders know the extent of the crisis. Ward and her team haves briefed King Charles III, Members of the U.K. Parliament, and U.N. representatives about what’s transpiring on the ground. “Bearing witness to what is going on is part of the job as well,” she says.
-
Health7h ago
Deaf baby can hear after 'mind-blowing' gene therapy treatment
-
Health1d ago
Is ‘Mommy Brain’ Real? What Happens to Your Mind and Body When You Become a Mom
-
Health1d ago
Women & Infants, Union disagree if emergency services are changing to target men and children
-
Health1d ago
Why This Summer Could Be Especially Dangerous for Older People
-
Health2d ago
32 scary parasitic diseases
-
Health2d ago
11 Foolproof Ways to Start a Conversation
-
Health2d ago
CRISPR can treat common form of inherited blindness, early data hint
-
Health2d ago
Sketchy stem-cell treatments in Mexico led to drug-resistant infections