Ref: 32/2022
Date: 09 November 2022
On Wednesday, 09 November 2022, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) organized a workshop titled: “The Right of Gaza Strip’s patients to Access Treatment Abroad”. Speakers representing the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MOH), private organizations from the health sector, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and media attended the workshop. The workshop aimed at discussing the repercussions of the Israeli occupation authorities’ obstructs on the travel of Gaza Strip’s patients referred for treatment abroad.
Ayman Lubbad, a researcher at PCHR’s Economic and Social Rights Unit, moderated the workshop and reviewed a PCHR’s report: “Medical Treatment Requests Under Study”, which sheds light on the suffering of Gaza Strip’s patient due to Israeli restrictions on their travel for treatment abroad outside Gaza hospitals. This workshop held under “Promote, Respect, and Fulfill the Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health in the Gaza Strip” project funded by the European Union (EU).
Mr. Raji Sourani, PCHR’s Director, opened the workshop by reflecting PCHR’s efforts in promoting and respecting the right to health to ensure that Palestinian citizens receive adequate treatment and healthcare. Sourani added that Israeli authorities violate international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and crossed all red lines when limiting the access of Gaza Strip’s patients to treatment just for lifesaving cases. He pointed out that the Israeli policy of non- response or procrastination to the patient’s applications is considered as blurring. He expressed his concern over this policy that might develop into completely banning the Gaza Strip’s patients from traveling to the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.
Dr. Fathi Abu Warda, Advisor to the Palestinian Minister of Health in Gaza, emphasized the MOH’s commitment to work on issuing medical referral for the Gaza Strip’s patients based on the appropriate place for their treatment. He indicated that the migration of specialized medical personnel has had a significant impact on the work of health facilities in the Gaza Strip, so the ministry is working to train new medical personnel through the Palestinian Medical Council (PMC) and the Palestinian Board Program to fill the shortage of trained medical personnel for uncommon medical specialties. Abu Warda called on all patients to contact the ministry if they are exposed to any violation while referring to receive treatment abroad, and the ministry will facilitate their access to treatment and will solve their problems.
For his part, Mohammed Lafi, Advocacy Officer at the World Health Organization (WHO), addressed the impact of the Israeli closure and political division on health services in the Gaza Strip. Also, he revealed the diagnosis of 5 new cases of cancer patients per day, and the death of two cases, considering this as serious health indicators that require many interventions for now and the future. With regard to the WHO’s role, Lafi saif that the organization monitors the general health situation to providing technical support, coordinate health information exchange and intervene in time of disasters, as well as documenting violations and communicating with all authorities, including the Israeli authorities, to facilitate patients’ travel outside the Gaza Strip for treatment.
Dr. Sobhi Skaik, Director of the Turkish Friendship Hospital, outlined that the number of oncology patients in the Gaza Strip has increased to about 16000 patients, at a rate of 90.8 per 100,000 people, as 2000 cases are diagnosed annually, adding that these data are expected to increase in the year 2040 to reach 180 cases per 100000. Skaik presented the challenges which the health system in the Gaza Strip suffers from in facing the risks of the spread of cancer, including the specialized lack of medical personnel and medical devices such as radiotherapy, calling for an explicit drug policy for oncology patients where all treatment protocols are provided without disruptions that affects patients’ health. Skaik called for the formation of a national committee of medical and human rights organizations to follow up the files of patients who are denied to travel for treatment abroad, especially radiotherapy, in order to facilitate the provision of the needed services in the Gaza strip.
Dr ‘Aed Yaghi, Director of the Medical Relief Society, mentioned the several factors that made the health system’s need to refer more patients abroad, including poor medical services as a result of long years of the Israeli siege, and the increase of pressure on governmental and private healthcare facilities during crises and emergencies. Yaghi added that IOF repeated its attacks on healthcare facilities and their personnel, which worsened the health system conditions in the Gaza Strip. Since 2008, 42 medical personnel were killed and 700 others were injured, 5 medical centres were completely destroyed while 51 centres were partially destroyed.
For his part, Mr. Mohammad Bseiso, a lawyer at PCHR’s Legal Unit, emphasized PCHR’s efforts in focusing on serving all patients to obtain their right to treatment outside the Gaza Strip, stressing that PCHR pays special attention to cancer patients and those with serious diseases since time is crucial to them. There are cases where the patient needs to travel via ambulance, so the centre redoubles its efforts in submitting petitions to the Israeli courts to facilitate their travel. Bseiso indicated that during the first half of this year, PCHR followed up 429 complaints submitted by patients banned from traveling for treatment by the Israeli authorities.
At the end of the workshop, the participants recommended to exert pressure on and compel Israel to allow all patients to travel and reach their treatment in the hospitals immediately, stress the need to issue long-term permits for cancer patients and patients with incurable diseases from the Gaza Strip, and allow the import of import medical devices and drug consignments. The participants also called for finding appropriate health policies to provide medical services in the Gaza Strip, and demanded to review the Palestinian Public Health Law and reconsider the treatment system abroad so it could be a court system of transparency, integrity and accountability to obtain high-quality healthcare services for Gaza Strip citizens.
