EU provides €14 million to East Jerusalem hospitals – EU press release/Non-UN document



Press release

22 August 2016

The EU provides €14 million to East Jerusalem Hospitals

Published on 22 Aug 2016

The EU and the Government of Finland have joined forces to provide €14 million to help East Jerusalem Hospitals maintain critical medical services to Palestinians. The contribution, which is channelled through the European Union's PEGASE mechanism, will help to cover part of outstanding costs of referrals of patients for treatment to East Jerusalem Hospitals by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Since 2012, the EU and its Member States have made available over €80 million to help relieve the financial burden facing the six hospitals of the East Jerusalem Hospitals network. This amount has helped to cover a substantial part of the costs of referral of Palestinian patients for medical treatment to East Jerusalem hospitals by the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Thanks to this support, hospital facilities have remained open and continued providing essential care to thousands of patients from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

"East Jerusalem hospitals, as some of the last Palestinian-run institutions in Jerusalem, have particular significance. These hospitals have served Palestinians for more than 50 years by providing quality specialised health care which is not accessible or available elsewhere in Palestine,'' said the Deputy European Union Representative, Mr David Geer. '' The EU remains a close and reliable partner to Palestinians. We commend the efforts of the Ministry of Health to curb the trend of outside medical referrals, which has noticeably increased during the last decade and is fiscally unstainable. Continuous efforts to develop a system which is increasingly efficient and equitable should be maintained,'' he added.

Background:

Most of the European Union's assistance to the Palestinian Authority is channelled through PEGASE, the financial mechanism launched in 2008 to support the PA Reform and Development Plan (2008-2010) and the subsequent Palestinian national plans. As well as helping to meet a substantial proportion of its running costs, European funds support major reform and development programmes in key ministries, to help prepare the PA for statehood. Since February 2008, over €1.9 billion have been disbursed through the PEGASE Direct Financial Support programmes. In addition, the EU has provided assistance to the Palestinian people through UNRWA and a wide range of cooperation projects.

The East Jerusalem Hospitals serve as the main centres for specialized care within the Palestinian health system. Patients needing services and procedures that are not available in the West Bank and Gaza – such as specialist oncology, renal care and cardiac surgeries – are referred for treatment in the East Jerusalem Hospitals Network facilities by the Palestinian Ministry of Health. There are six health institutions in East Jerusalem: Augusta Victoria Hospital, Makassed Hospital, St Joseph Hospital, St John's Eye Hospital, Palestinian Red Crescent Maternity Hospital and Princess Basma Rehabilitation Centre.

For further details please contact:
The Office of the European Union Representative
Shadi Othman (02 5415 867, 0599 673 958); Inas Abu Shirbi (02 541 5 859, 0599 673 957)


Document Type: Press Release
Document Sources: European Commission, European Union (EU), PEGASE
Country: Finland
Subject: Education and culture, Health
Publication Date: 22/08/2016
2019-03-12T19:34:04-04:00

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