Supporting Rehabilitation Needs

Why It Matters

Without functional rehabilitation, survivors face lifelong disability, reducing workforce participation and burdening an already strained health system.

Key Takeaways

• 42,000+ injured, 5,000 amputations in Gaza.
• Rehabilitation facilities largely destroyed, staff shortages severe.
• WHO/NORWAC aim to restore services and train workers.
• Lack of assistive devices hampers patient independence.
• Sustainable investment essential for long-term resilience.

Pulse Analysis

The Gaza Strip is confronting a silent health crisis that has unfolded over two years of armed conflict. More than 42,000 residents now live with injuries that can permanently alter mobility, from amputations to spinal cord trauma and severe burns. Such conditions demand timely physical rehabilitation to prevent secondary complications, preserve functional independence, and reduce long‑term care costs. In humanitarian settings, rehabilitation is no longer an optional service; it is a core component of emergency health response that underpins dignity and societal stability. The cumulative burden also strains Gaza’s already overstretched hospitals, limiting their capacity to address other urgent health needs.

Yet the sector is crippled. Bombardments have rendered most rehabilitation clinics unusable, while a significant portion of the specialist workforce has been killed, displaced, or unable to work. The shortage of essential assistive devices—wheelchairs, prosthetic components, and orthoses—further stalls recovery, forcing patients to rely on family care or remain bedridden. Supply chain disruptions, limited electricity, and fragmented referral pathways compound these gaps, creating a bottleneck that threatens to turn acute injuries into chronic disabilities. Furthermore, the lack of data collection hampers evidence‑based planning, leaving policymakers without a clear picture of demand.

International partners are mobilizing to reverse the trend. WHO, together with the Norwegian Refugee Council’s medical arm NORWAC, is rebuilding treatment spaces, establishing mobile rehab units, and launching accelerated training programs for physiotherapists and prosthetists. Strengthening referral networks between hospitals and community centers aims to streamline patient flow and maximize scarce resources. However, lasting impact hinges on sustained financial commitments, coordinated logistics, and a strategic plan that integrates rehabilitation into Gaza’s broader health system reconstruction, ensuring survivors can return to productive lives. If rehabilitation is embedded early, it can accelerate economic recovery by restoring a skilled labor force and reducing long‑term dependency.

Original Description

After two years of conflict, more than 42,000 people in Gaza are living with potentially life-changing injuries, including over 5,000 amputations and thousands of spinal cord injuries, burns, and complex limb injuries.

In this episode of Frontline Shift, health workers from NORWAC — an emergency medical team working in coordination with WHO in the Gaza Strip since February 2024 — alongside a WHO rehabilitation specialist, discuss the urgent needs, gaps, and challenges in expanding access to physical rehabilitation services. They share how the lack of functioning services and essential assistive devices is affecting patients’ recovery, independence, and quality of life.

While some progress is underway, with WHO and Emergency Medical Teams working to restore and expand rehabilitation services, strengthen referral pathways, and train and support the health workforce, the scale of needs remains immense.

With much of Gaza’s rehabilitation infrastructure damaged or non-operational, and many professionals killed or displaced, rebuilding services requires coordination, sustained investment, and reliable access to supplies.

Rehabilitation is not a luxury — it is essential to recovery, dignity, and long-term resilience.