As the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territory Enters Its 40Th

٢٠٠٦ Draft Annual Report S Emergency And Development 2006 Annual Report USTAINING Challenges to to Challenges Q UALITY UALITY Palestinian Medical H Relief EALTH Society C ARE ٢ ٢٠٠٦ Draft Annual Report Executive Summary 2006 was a year of turmoil for the Palestinian people, marking one of the lowest points in the history of their struggle for freedom and justice, and posing great challenges to PMRS’ ability to adapt and respond to healthcare needs in the face of overwhelming political, military, economic and social pressures. PMRS once again proved itself well able to cope under difficult conditions, adapting to the humanitarian crisis by stepping up the provision of essential primary healthcare and emergency services to 1.5 million ordinary Palestinians, whilst striving to maintain a holistic approach to health and wellbeing. Mobile Clinics: Coping with Political Realities PMRS’ mobile clinic services took on added importance this year in the context of a humanitarian crisis, and a general deterioration in the health status of Palestinians in 2006. PMRS’ eight mobile clinics continued providing a complete package of high quality healthcare services to patients, both preventive and curative, from health education and first aid training, to child and women’s health and screening for chronic diseases, anaemia, breast cancer and congenital abnormalities. PMRS was able to establish 23 village health rooms throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, supporting the provision of mobile clinic services to people living in isolated areas and lacking essential health facilities. Under its Emergency Response Program, PMRS also developed a ‘health passport’ for patients in 2006 in cooperation with international partners. These passports are retained by patients and document their case history in order to facilitate both access by health workers to patient case histories, and therefore more effective patient care. Chronic Diseases: Responding to Priority Health Needs Chronic diseases, the leading cause of death in Palestine in 2004, and secondary complications resulting from these diseases constitute one of the greatest health challenges facing both the Palestinian people, and the Palestinian health sector. While the incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases is increasing, efforts to combat chronic diseases in Palestine suffer from a lack clear national policies for prevention and care, a lack coordination, investment and commitment, and limited capacity at the primary healthcare level to deal with chronic diseases. In this context, PMRS expanded the coverage of its chronic disease prevention and treatment services to its Primary Health Care clinics. It also introduced free, weekly screening sessions to improve risk assessment and the early detection of chronic diseases, thereby reducing the burden of these diseases and secondary complications on patients, families and the health sector as a whole. PMRS also worked towards capacity building in the field of chronic diseases at different levels, strengthening the ability of health workers from PMRS, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and other non-governmental health service organisation to improve ٣ ٢٠٠٦ Draft Annual Report the quality of care given to chronic disease patients in diagnosis, prevention and treatment. In recognition that health services will not be able to meet the challenges posed by chronic diseases without a detailed knowledge of the prevalence, incidence and severity of these diseases, PMRS also sought to and to improve the capacity of chronic disease management by addressing the lack of data available on the overall incidence and prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, hypertension diseases, and diabetes mellitus. It did so by introducing computerised management information systems at the level of its primary healthcare centres to map the incidence, prevalence and nature of chronic disease in Palestine, to feed into and increase decision-making capacity at the national level to support improved policy approaches towards chronic disease management. Despite the overall weakening of coordination between health service providers due to the crisis faced by the MOH in 2006, PMRS continued its coordination with the MOH and set up a National Committee to deal with Non-Communicable Diseases. Community Mobilisation: Empowering Communities to Address their Own Health Needs The renewed outbreak of violent conflict which reached its peak with Israel’s reinvasion of the Gaza Strip on June 28 2006, together with the ongoing construction of Israel’s Apartheid Wall in the West Bank, and the deepening of the network of restrictions imposed on the movement of Palestinians within and between the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, presented severe challenges to the provision of healthcare services. PMRS faced these obstacles by using its long-term relationships of trust and cooperation with communities throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip to mobilize communities in taking control of their own basic health needs in order to promote a more sustainable approach to healthcare provision, and as a coping mechanism for communities isolated from health services. This has empowered communities to use their own resources in meeting health priorities in a way that does not create new demands on the health sector, but which finds ways to help communities help themselves. The focus of these activities is primarily preventive, and aims at building the capacities that enable individuals, communities and local Community-Based Organisation (CBO’s) to plan, implement and evaluate health awareness activities. PMRS worked with local, voluntary health coalitions in delivering preventive health messages to local communities to improve access to healthcare services, specifically quality maternal, child health and nutrition services. Promoting Community Development and Supporting Livelihoods through Job Creation The sharp rise in poverty and unemployment levels in 2006 due to the fiscal crisis facing the Palestinian Authority, the non-payment of public workers’ salaries, and the closure of Palestine's borders had enormous repercussions on the already beleaguered ٤ ٢٠٠٦ Draft Annual Report Palestinian economy. In order to mitigate the devastating impacts of the humanitarian crisis, PMRS provided job opportunities through its Small Community Projects Program aimed at the most vulnerable sectors of the population. These opportunities addressed immediate humanitarian requirements, as well as those which facilitated longer-term moves towards recovery, rehabilitation, and sustainability. As we approach the date marking four decades of Israel's occupation of Palestine, the situation in the region remains deeply uncertain. We fear the worst is yet to come as efforts at the highest levels to seek an end to the economic siege and political isolation in the short term, and an end to the occupation in the long term, are yet to have any tangible, positive impact on the lives of ordinary Palestinians. For PMRS, the near future is beset with challenges in striving to sustain the level of work required to meet the needs of the population, whilst continuing to balance emergency response, humanitarian interventions and crisis management with medium- and longer-term development needs. Yet just as it have done for the last 28 years, PMRS will continue seeking to overcome the obstacles preventing Palestinians' from living healthy, peaceful and dignified lives, and moving forward in its efforts to strengthen the quality and coverage of its services. ٥ ٢٠٠٦ Draft Annual Report Introduction As the Israeli occupation of Palestine enters its 40th year in 2007, the health and wellbeing of the Palestinian people continues to be inextricably tied to, and strongly affected by the political situation. The period following Legislative elections in January 2006 has seen some of the most difficult conditions ever witnessed throughout our decades-old struggle. The decision by Israel to withhold tax revenues collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA), coupled with the suspension of direct aid to the PA by some key international donors, provoked a humanitarian crisis and has caused immense suffering to the Palestinian people. The undermining of the PA's ability to pay its workers and to replenish stocks of equipment and supplies weakened its ability to continue providing essential services, particularly in health and education, leading to strikes by health workers and teachers and shortages of essential supplies and equipment. The fact that the PA's estimated 162,000 employees also support a further one million people meant that the ramifications of this situation went far beyond the public sector, affecting the income and status of households and businesses across Palestine. In the words of the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Professor John Dugard, "...the Palestinian people have been subjected to economic sanctions – the first time an occupied people have been so treated. Israel is in violation of major Security Council and General Assembly resolutions...yet it escapes the imposition of sanctions. Indeed, the Palestinian people rather than the Palestinian Authority, have been subjected to ١".possible the most rigorous form of international sanctions imposed in modern times This economic siege has provoked a humanitarian crisis, one that has been exacerbated by an increase in Israeli military activity since January 2006. In Gaza, already

Load more