{"id":199717,"date":"2000-12-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T17:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=199717"},"modified":"2019-03-12T17:50:15","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T17:50:15","slug":"auto-insert-199717","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-199717\/","title":{"rendered":"Situation in the OPT – WHO note"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

10 December 2000<\/p>\n

\nThe conflict in the Palestinian Self Rule Areas is taking an increasing toll on health, says WHO's Special Technical
\nAssistance Programme Co-ordinator Dr Giuseppe Masala. Not only is the high level of injury and psychological trauma
\nstraining medical services, but closure of borders and roads to, within and between self rule areas is undermining the
\nfledgling referral system, that had begun to develop throughout the territories under the hope of peace, constraining care
\nfor those suffering from ill-health unrelated to the conflict.
\nTo date about 300 people have lost their lives, most of them Palestinian boys and adolescents, and over 10,000 have been injured,
\nalmost half severely. It is estimated that 15 per cent of these injuries will result in permanent disability.
\nHospitals and health facilities have been overwhelmed by the sudden burden of patients, most of them in need of urgent medical or
\nsurgical care. Medical vehicles have been directly affected by the upheavals; the Palestinian Red Crescent Society reports damage<\/p>\n

to 41 ambulances while 32 Magen David Adom (the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross) vehicles have been put out of action.
\nThe ongoing military activities and the uprising on one hand and the closure of borders and roads to, between and within the
\nPalestinian Self Rule Areas (PSRA) on the other not only constrains social and economic activities but restricts the movement of
\nhealth personal and patients. Many health staff are not able to reach their normal place of work and many patients are unable to
\naccess appropriate health facilities whether for normal preventative care or for emergency services.
\nUntil September, the population had access to a health system that was developing in ways that foresaw peace and freedom of
\nmovement. Now cities and territories which had developed a working referral system over recent times are cut off from each other
\nand from their rural areas.
\nThe health system is also being indirectly affected by the economic losses suffered by the territories which, in just the first three<\/p>\n

weeks of the clashes, are reported to have exceeded the total value of donor disbursements to the Palestinian Authorities in the first
\nhalf of the year [UNSCO, Oct. 2000].
\nAt the same time, public services such as water, electricity, sanitation and communications have begun to deteriorate, both
\nincreasing the risk of disease outbreaks and undermining the ability to maintain early warning surveillance activities. Internal
\ndisplacement within the PSRA islands is also likely to increase overcrowding and raise the incidence of air-borne and
\nhygiene-related diseases, while decreasing food security and its effect on nutritional status is another potential concern.
\nAction underway
\n·Assessments
\nInitial rapid assessment of the situation is ongoing. Funds allocated by WHO's Director General, Dr Gro Harlem Bruntland, will be
\nused to strengthen needs assessments in the Palestinian Self Rule Areas.
\n·Co-ordination  
\nA Humanitarian Task Force for Emergency Needs, created under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and other Palestinian<\/p>\n

Authority bodies and chaired by the UN Special Coordinator's Office (UNSCO), has been meeting once a week in Gaza to share
\ninformation about the incoming donations, constraints encountered, situation updates and possible common actions. Participants
\ninclude representatives of Palestinian Authority ministries, UN agencies (UNRWA, UNICEF, WHO, WFP), major bilateral donors
\n(such as EU, USAID, Japan, Norway, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Canada), national and international NGOs, and the Red Cross\/Red
\nCrescent Societies. One of the aims is to produce a humanitarian strategy with defined short and longer term objectives.
\nCurrently, the Taskforce is split in two field groups, one covering the West Bank and one the Gaza Strip. WHO chairs the health
\ncomponent in each group. This coordination is vital in order to anticipate emerging health problems such as the recent Shigellosis
\nepidemic caused by the interruption of water chlorination, as well as co-ordinate action to shore up deteriorating access to health
\nservices.
\nWHO has also prepared an appeal for US$7.5 million covering both immediate conflict-related needs, needs to combat the<\/p>\n

increasing isolation of communities and the activities needed to prepare the health system for a potentially deepening crisis.
\n·Emergency Kits
\nFour emergency traumatological kits, funded by the Government of Italy, were shipped to Jerusalem from the OCHA\/WHO\/WFP
\nwarehouse in Brindisi at the beginning of the crisis and have been delivered to the main Ministry of Health stocking centres.
\nDistribution to Ramallah, Beit Jahla and Jenin Hospitals in the West Bank took place timely to allow these centers to cope with
\nacute needs.  
\nFunds allocated by WHO's Director General will be used to purchase specific supplies. In addition, an allocation from WHO's
\nEastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO) is allowing for the purchase of additional emergency kits and supplies which have been
\nrequested from the Ministry of Health.
\nDifficulties faced in the clearance from Ben Gurion (Tel Aviv) airport – both at customs and security-check levels – are exemplary of
\nthe current situation in the Palestinian Self Rule Areas. Interagency coordination such as UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for<\/p>\n

the Palestine Refugees in the Near East) support in providing storing facilities and transport by UN trucks, and UNSCO (Office of
\nthe UN Special Coordinator) communication with Israeli authorities, as well as WHO physical presence, helped eventually overcome
\nthe difficulties.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

10 December 2000 The conflict in the Palestinian Self Rule Areas is taking an increasing toll on health, says WHO's Special Technical Assistance Programme Co-ordinator Dr Giuseppe Masala. Not only is the high level of injury and psychological trauma straining medical services, but closure of borders and roads to, within and between self rule areas […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[1329],"document-source":[2529],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[2097],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-199717","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-press-release","document-source-world-health-organization-who","document-subject-social-issues","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/199717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/199717\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=199717"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=199717"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=199717"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=199717"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=199717"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=199717"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=199717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}