Palestinian Health Care System under fire…

Despite all the obstacles imposed by the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MOH) has successfully managed to run a functioning health system during the past 12 years. The Palestinian MOH provides 64.5 percent of the general health needs of the Palestinian population, 35.5% being provided by NGO's, UNRWA and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

The Palestinian Authority has three major sources of funding. In 2005, these included: 1. Clearance revenues transferred from Israel -estimated at $65m / month; 2. Budget support from the international community - estimated at $34m / month; 3. Domestic revenues - estimated at $35m / month.

The tens of checkpoints and the ongoing restrictions of movement imposed on all Palestinians (including physicians, nurses, and patients) have negatively affected the health parameters of the Palestinians. It is expected that mortality and morbidity rates will significantly increase due to all these restrictions.

After the election of the Hamas-led government, Israel has stopped paying the taxes to the PNA. Israel also urged the international community to stop supporting any of the PNA structures, including the MOH. Until now, none of the PNA employees has received any of their salaries for the last three months.



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In a recent report, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that the acute financial crisis facing the MOH could lead to “a rapid decline of the public health system towards a possible collapse,” and “a shift of control and management of the health service system away from the public sector to NGOs, UN system and the private sector.”

UN report: 40% of Palestinians earn less than $2.10 a day

One in three sick Palestinian newborns is dying in Gaza hospitals due to poor care and lack of basic medicines. (UNICEF)
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/

The Palestinian Ministry of Health provides 64.5 percent of the general health needs of the Palestinian population. It employs approximately 11,000 individuals, comprising 57% of the workforce in the Palestinian health system. None of these individuals has received their salary for three consecutive months.
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All humanitarian organizations working in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as Israeli organizations (such as the Physicians for Human Rights/ Israel) are warning against the catastrophic consequences of halting international support to Palestinians. Away from politics and politicians, the average Palestinian is now suffering from the lack of medical services and almost all hospitals in the West Bank and Gaza are out of medical supplies and medicine.

It is really a very sad event seeing patients with chronic and acute illness dying inside the hospitals because they are not finding the medications or not able to do their routine kidney dialysis or receive their chemotherapy, and all of that because of certain policies that are paying no regard to the human dignity.


Both the International and the Israeli humanitarian organizations have been calling upon the Israeli Government to stop its policy of closure and curfews, forward the tax revenues to the PNA, and to allow the work of international agencies and encourage them to continue to support Palestinian civil infrastructures and systems.