ID :
101990
Sat, 01/23/2010 - 13:16
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/101990
The shortlink copeid
Gaza blockade jeopardizing health of 1.4m people, UN warns
TEHRAN, Jan. 23 (MNA) — UN agencies and their non-governmental partners on Thursday warned of the impact of the Israeli blockade on Gaza’s population and on health services.
According to the UNIC, the agencies also repeated their call for an immediate opening of the border crossings into the coastal strip.
“The continuing closure of the Gaza Strip is undermining the functioning of the health care system and putting at risk the health of 1.4 million people in Gaza,” Max Gaylard, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, said in a joint statement with the Association of International Development Agencies.
Hospitals and primary care facilities, damaged during the fighting in Gaza one year ago, have not been rebuilt because construction materials are not allowed into the territory owing to the ongoing blockade, which is now in its third year.
During the three-week military offensive Israel damaged 15 of Gaza’s 27 hospitals. 43 of the territory’s 110 primary health-care facilities were either damaged or destroyed during the war.
Certain types of medical equipment, such as X-ray equipment and electronic devices, are very difficult to bring in, and health professionals in Gaza have been cut off from the outside world, the statement noted.
The World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out that many specialized treatments, such as for complex heart surgery and certain types of cancer, are not available in Gaza and patients are therefore referred for treatment to hospitals outside Gaza.
But many patients have had their applications for exit permits denied or delayed by the Israeli authorities and have missed their appointments, with some having died while waiting for referral.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a report issued last November, stressed that the blockade of vital supplies has devastated Gaza’s economy and “has also severely impaired the realization of a wide range of economic, social and cultural rights, as well as civil and political rights.”
According to the UNIC, the agencies also repeated their call for an immediate opening of the border crossings into the coastal strip.
“The continuing closure of the Gaza Strip is undermining the functioning of the health care system and putting at risk the health of 1.4 million people in Gaza,” Max Gaylard, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, said in a joint statement with the Association of International Development Agencies.
Hospitals and primary care facilities, damaged during the fighting in Gaza one year ago, have not been rebuilt because construction materials are not allowed into the territory owing to the ongoing blockade, which is now in its third year.
During the three-week military offensive Israel damaged 15 of Gaza’s 27 hospitals. 43 of the territory’s 110 primary health-care facilities were either damaged or destroyed during the war.
Certain types of medical equipment, such as X-ray equipment and electronic devices, are very difficult to bring in, and health professionals in Gaza have been cut off from the outside world, the statement noted.
The World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out that many specialized treatments, such as for complex heart surgery and certain types of cancer, are not available in Gaza and patients are therefore referred for treatment to hospitals outside Gaza.
But many patients have had their applications for exit permits denied or delayed by the Israeli authorities and have missed their appointments, with some having died while waiting for referral.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a report issued last November, stressed that the blockade of vital supplies has devastated Gaza’s economy and “has also severely impaired the realization of a wide range of economic, social and cultural rights, as well as civil and political rights.”
