As part of Yad Sarah’s emergency campaign to extend humanitarian care to those affected by war, the organization’s Mobile Dental Clinic, has been operating as a dental clinic on-wheels accessible for the thousands of evacuees from combat zones and to those housebound due to wartime precautions.
The Clinic’s volunteer dentists and field workers are operating in cities that have converted into large-scale centers accommodating evacuees, such as the Dead Sea Hotels area and Eilat.
In light of many sustained inquiries received by Rabbi Itamar Barezer, Director of Yad Sarah’s Mobile Dental Clinic, the organization decided to extend its collaboration with Israeli HMO, Meuhedet, which sponsored the initiative and provides free dental care for evacuees.
One of the Clinic’s volunteer dentists, Dr. Maher Haddad, and coordinator, Iris Ben Shoshan, arrived in Eilat last week. Coming from the northern city of Karmiel, they conducted nine urgent dental treatments for evacuees staying in the southern port city.
“The task is not easy. In Eilat, the evacuees are sheltering in very dense accommodations. The events of the war are evident on the children’s faces,” said Dr. Maher.
One of the patients was Avital, a six-year-old girl from the hard-hit southern city of Netivot. Avital arrived at a dental clinic in Eilat in great pain and after weeks away from home ready to undergo an emergency tooth extraction. However, she was released without treatment, due to the complexity of the procedure. On October 31, Dr. Maher arrived at her new accommodations and successfully performed the extraction.
In another case, a nurse whose husband had to stay in their largely-evacuated hometown of Sderot, needed a difficult replacement of a temporary crown. The team from Yad Sarah was able to carry out the treatment successfully despite the complex conditions.
Yad Sarah CEO Moshe Cohen: “I salute our volunteers who turn over every stone to continue helping the citizens of Israel. We will stand steadfast in our mission to serve as the medical lifeline for the evacuees from the combat zones, in the Dead Sea, in Eilat and everywhere in Israel.”
