WHO specialized health mission to the Gaza Strip – Report – Corrigendum

SIXTY-SECOND WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY

A62/24 Corr.1

Agenda item 14

19 May 2009

Health conditions in the occupied Palestinian

territory, including east Jerusalem, and in the

occupied Syrian Golan

Report by the Secretariat

CORRIGENDUM

25. The Secretariat sought information on the health of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan and on the feasibility of establishing clinics in that territory.

26. The Permanent Mission of Israel in Geneva has replied to this request, indicating that the 18 000 Druze inhabitants of the Golan Heights have access to comprehensive health coverage, including primary, secondary and tertiary care under the Israeli national health insurance law. It stated that there are 40 doctors and 96 dentists based in the occupied Syrian Golan and hospital services are provided through the hospital network of northern Israel, and that the creation of a hospital within the occupied Syrian Golan is not deemed necessary in view of the small population size. However, the Mission noted that the health centre in Majdal Shams is equipped to offer primary as well as secondary care.

27. The Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic has replied to this request, indicating that there is no integrated health centre providing services to the people living in the five occupied villages (i.e. Majdal Shams, Baqaata, Mas’ada, El Gajar and Ain Qania), whose total population amounts to about 28 000 people. It has also indicated that people have to use ambulance services and hospitals in Safed; that there are reports of inadequate coverage of patients with renal insufficiency requiring dialysis treatment, and that the population has to pay high fees for medical examinations, stays in hospital and health insurance premiums, beyond the limits of what they can afford with their limited incomes.