Referral of patients from the Gaza Strip – WHO monthly report (October 2012)

 Denied: 6 patients (3 females; 3 males) including 1 elderly patient were denied permits to exit Erez checkpoint for medical treatment.

  Interrogated: 12 patients (3 females; 9 males) who applied for permits in October were requested to appear for Israeli security interviews; two of them were elderly patients.

  Delayed: 78 patients (35 females; 43 males) including 30 children, did not receive a response to their permit application and missed their hospital appointments.

  Reduced number of referrals: Only 798 patients were referred by the Ministry of Health (MoH) in October – almost 400 fewer than the monthly average for 2012 and the lowest monthly total since 2010 when WHO began monitoring monthly totals. The reduction is due in part to a physicians’ strike in Egypt, as well as the MoH recent acquisition of MRI equipment and increased catheterization capacity, and the closure of Jordanian hospitals to new MoH patients as a result of the PA’s accrued debt. In October 2012, MoH financially covered 1 referral patient to Jordan; 9 patients applied for permits to cross Erez and travel to Jordan for health care that was self-funded.

  Medical reasons: Most October 2012 referrals were for: oncology (15%), ophthalmology (11%), paediatrics (10%), haematology (8%), heart surgery (7%), nuclear medicine (7%), neurosurgery (5%) and heart catheterization (5%). The estimated cost was NIS 9.6 million.