Ref: 124/2011

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) expresses concern
over the extreme shortage of medicines in the Gaza Strip’s hospitals.  PCHR warns of the potential catastrophic repercussions
on the health of the Gaza Strip’s population, especially patients and those
suffering from chronic diseases, of not having access to medicine which is
currently unavailable in health facilities in the Gaza Strip.  PCHR calls upon the Palestinian President to
immediately intervene to ensure the prompt flow of medicine and medical goods
to health facilities in the region.

According to Dr. Muneer al-Bursh, Director General of Pharmacy in
the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, health facilities and warehouses have
completely run out of 120 essential medicines and 140 medical goods. Dr al
Bursh stated that the Ministry of Health in Ramallah had failed to supple the
relevant goods, only supplying 20% of the Gaza Strip’s actual medicinal needs
in 2011.  Dr. al-Bursh pointed out that stopping
the supply of medicine and medical goods, such as Blood Line which is used in
dialyses, threatens the lives of 400 patients in the Gaza Strip.  He further stated that medicine for cancer
and anesthesia, drugs used to inhibit the immune system of patients who
received kidney transplants at hospitals abroad, and medicines used for
hemophilia have all run out from hospitals and warehouses in the Gaza
Strip. 

It is worth noting that the medical crises in the Gaza Strip
coincide with statements by Dr. Fathi Abu Mughli, Minister of Health in
Ramallah, that there is no shortage of medicines in the West Bank.  Dr. Abu Mughli stated on 03 December 2011,
that the situation regards medicine in the West Bank is better than any country
in the region, including oil-producing countries, emphasizing that all
medicines are available in the West Bank, but that hospitals sometimes suffer shortages
in medicines due to delayed supplying from warehouses or due to measures taken
by Israeli occupation authorities. 
However, he noted, given the availability of alternative drugs in the
West Bank, as is international practice, patients did not go without treatment
in the case of shortages.[1]

PCHR expresses utmost concern over the deterioration of health
conditions of Palestinian patients in the Gaza Strip, and:

1. Calls upon
President Mahmoud Abbas to immediately intervene with the Ministry of Health in
Ramallah to ensure the prompt flow of consignments of medicine and medical
needs to health facilities in the Gaza Strip;

2. Calls for
making necessary coordination to remove obstacles between the Ministries of
Health in Ramallah and Gaza, especially under the current atmosphere of
reconciliation;

3. Calls upon
the Ministry of Health in Ramallah to immediately supply all medicines and
medical needs that are necessary for health facilities in the Gaza Strip to
avoid further risks to the health and lives of the population of the Gaza
Strip.