Gaza student designs a suitcase-sized mobile dental clinic

A twenty-three-year-old, Engineering and Medical Equipment student from the southern Gaza city of Rafah has designed a mobile dental clinic that fits in a piece of standard travel luggage. Abdullah Al-Baba overcame difficulties with sourcing parts – a result of the severe Israeli imports restrictions that make life in Gaza so difficult. He used a refrigerator engine as a pump air and repurposed a fire extinguisher cylinder to store the air. Al-Baba says his innovation can help extend dental care to the elderly and patients in remote areas who cannot reach the 20 dental clinics run by UNRWA in Gaza. His invention provides dentists with an integrated unit containing the tools needed for the treatment process in an easy-to-transport bag packed with air storage and pumping devices oral surgeons require. The young man hopes that his project will attract investor support and help improve dental care throughout Gaza.