Israel Responsible For Palestinian Authority Collapse
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Courtesy Of: YNetNews.com
By Ali Waked
05/09/06

Scathing report issued by Physicians for Human Rights Organization says the Palestinian Healthcare System is collapsing because of aid cuts, Israeli curfews; report warns Israel will be held responsible for collapse by the international community.

The Palestinian health system is facing meltdown as a result of international aid cuts and the curfew imposed by Israel on the Palestinian Authority, part of its effort to boycott the Hamas government.

The latest humanitarian alarm was sounded on Tuesday in a report by the Physicians for Human Rights Organization--a non-profit organization whose goal is to safeguard health-related rights of people living in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

The report said the Palestinian Health Ministry is supplying only 64 percent of the total services to Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Palestinian Authority hospitals are dealing with 77 percent of emergency treatments and 76 percent of medical treatments for women.

The Palestinian Medical Care System also lacks the means to treat the life threatening illnesses like cancer, the report said. Cancer patients are deprived of proper diagnosis and operations to remove cancer tumors in the eye and the uterus.

Cardiology is the most hit branch of medicine hit by the financial crisis in the Palestinian Authority as breast operations, heart operations for children, angioplasties and other cardiological procedures are unavailable.

The report said, however, that a large majority of Palestinian children are immunized in Israel. Dozens of Palestinian children suffering from various illnesses were treated at the Sheba Medical Center last year. Costing the Palestinian Authority NIS 3 million (USD 666,666). Last year the PA paid NIS 30 million (USD 6.6 million) in hospital bills to Israeli medical centers.

The report warned that the collapse of the PA Health Ministry could spell disaster for many Palestinian patients.

The organization noted that the transfer of the Ministry's reponsibility to the World Health Organization and non-profit humanitarian organizations is impossible in the short term.

"In the short term, Israel will bear direct responsibility for the repercussions of the collapse of the social system in general and the health system in particular," the organization said.

The body said that under the Oslo Agreement, Israel is responsible for the Palestinian health system, as it controls water supplies to Palestinian areas and has the power to limit the freedom of movement of the Palestinians.

The report said that should the Palestinian health system collapse due to Israeli decision to halt the transfer of customs revenues to the PA and pressing foreign donors to curb aid, the Jewish State will have to fund the health care costs of 3.5 million Palestinians.

The complete article can be read at:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/1,7340,L-3248935,00.html