Health conditions in the OT – WHO resolution

WHA49.24 Health conditions of, and assistance to, the Arab population in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine

The Forty-ninth World Health Assembly,

Mindful of the basic principle established in the WHO Constitution, which affirms that the health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security;

Recalling the convening of the International Peace Conference on the Middle East (Madrid, 30 October 1991) on the basis of United Nations Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967 and 338 (1973) of 22 October 1973, and the subsequent bilateral negotiations;

Expressing the hope that the peace talks between the parties concerned in the Middle East will lead to a just and comprehensive peace in the area;

Noting the signing in Washington D.C. on 13 September 1993 of the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements between the Government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the commencement of the implementation of the Declaration of Principles following the signing of the Cairo Accord on 4 May 1994, the transfer of health services to the Palestinian Authority, and the launching of the final stage of negotiations between Israel and PLO on 5 May 1996;

Emphasizing the need to accelerate the implementation of the Declaration of Principles and the subsequent Accord;

Recognizing the need for increased support and health assistance to the Palestinian population in the areas under the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority and to the Arab populations in the occupied Arab territories, including the Palestinians as well as the Syrian Arab population;

Recognizing that the Palestinian people will have to make strenuous efforts to improve their health infrastructure, and expressing satisfaction at the initiation of cooperation between the Israeli Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian Authority, which emphasizes that health development is best enhanced under conditions of peace and stability;

Expressing the hope that the Palestinian patients will be able to benefit from health facilities available in the health institutions of Jerusalem;

Recognizing the need for support and health assistance to the Arab populations in the areas under the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority and in the occupied territories, including the occupied Golan;

Having considered the report of the Director-General,

1. EXPRESSES the hope that the peace talks will lead to the establishment of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East;

2. EXPRESSES the hope that the Palestinian people, having assumed responsibility for their health services, will be able themselves to carry out health plans and projects in order to participate with the peoples of the world in achievement of WHO's objective of health for all by the year 2000;

3. AFFIRMS the need to support the efforts of the Palestinian Authority in the field of health in order to enable it to develop its own health system so as to meet the needs of the Palestinian people in administering their own affairs and supervising their own health services;

4. URGES Member States, intergovernmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations and regional organizations to provide speedy and generous assistance in the achievement of health development for the Palestinian people;

5. THANKS the Director-General for his efforts and requests him:

(1) to take urgent steps in cooperation with Member States to support the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian Authority in its efforts to overcome the current difficulties, and in particular so as to guarantee free circulation of patients, of health workers and of emergency services, and the normal provision of medical goods to the Palestinian medical premises, including those in Jerusalem;

(2) to continue to provide the necessary technical assistance to support health programmes and projects for the Palestinian people in the transitional period;

(3) to take the necessary steps and make the contacts needed to obtain funding from various sources, including extrabudgetary sources, to meet the urgent health needs of the Palestinian people during the transitional period;

(4) to continue his efforts to implement the special health assistance programme and adapt it to the health needs of the Palestinian people, taking into account the health plan of the Palestinian people;

(5) to activate the organizational unit at WHO headquarters concerned with the health of the Palestinian people, and continue to provide health assistance so as to improve the health conditions of the Palestinian people;

(6) to report on implementation of this resolution to the Fiftieth World Health Assembly;

 
6. EXPRESSES gratitude to all Member States, intergovernmental organizations and nongovernmental organizations and calls upon them to provide assistance to meet the health needs of the Palestinian people.

Hbk Res., Vol. III (3rd ed.), 7.1.4.4
(Sixth plenary meeting, 25 May 1996 – Committee B, fourth report)