Ref:
66/2013

On
Tuesday, 26 October 2013, the Economic and Social Rights Unit at the
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) organized a workshop titled ‘Patients Struggling against Death in Gaza: The
Case of Rheumatoid Arthritis and
Leukemia Patients.’ The workshop was held in PCHR’s head office in Gaza City.
Specialists representing the Ministry of Health and the World Health
Organization (WHO), a number of rheumatoid arthritis and leukemia patients and
representatives of civil society organizations, especially health ones,
participated in the workshop.

Dr.
Riyad al-Za’noun, Former Minister of Health and Chairman of PCHR’s Board of
Directors, opened the workshop, noting that it was organized as part of the
cooperation and coordination between PCHR and organizations concerned with
local and international health services in the Gaza Strip. Al-Za’noun added
that the workshop aimed to discuss the shortage of medicines for rheumatoid
arthritis and leukemia patients in the Gaza Strip, noting that Israel’s closure
of the Gaza Strip, imposed since mid 2006, and the political division between
the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are the main obstacles that lead to the
shortage of such types of medicine. Patients are at the same time facing
difficult economic conditions and cannot afford the prices of medicines which
are too high for them. Dr. al-Za’noun stressed for the need to overcome the
tragedy of the Palestinian political division, and called for urgent talks and
coordination between both Health Ministries in Gaza and the West Bank.

Khalil
Shahin, Director of PCHR’s Economic and Social Rights Unit, gave a presentation
titled ‘Patients Struggling against Death in Gaza,’ in
which he outlined that health conditions of rheumatoid arthritis and leukemia
patients in the Gaza Strip have deteriorated in an unprecedented manner due to
the shortage of the medicines they need for several consecutive months.  Shahin wondered about the reasons that impede
access to medicines regularly in the Gaza Strip, which leads to the
deterioration of patients’ health conditions. 
He also wondered about the role of both Ministries of Health in the West
Bank and Gaza in providing medicines in a timely manner. Shahin called for
uniting efforts of both Ministries to prioritize the interest of patients in the
Gaza Strip and provide them with the needed medicine and medical treatment.

Dr.
Abdel Nasser Subuh, a representative of WHO, gave a presentation titled ‘WHO’s
Role in Providing Rheumatoid Arthritis and Leukemia Patients with Medicines,’
pointing out that access to medicines for rheumatoid arthritis and leukemia
patients constitutes a great challenge for the health organizations in the Gaza
Strip, and that the Ministry of Health is responsible for providing the Gaza Strip
with all medicines and medical supplies, adding that the financial crisis facing
the Ministry made it unable to meet the needs of patients in

the Gaza
Strip. Subuh added that WHO and international health organizations implemented
two projects to buy medicines and medical supplies for rheumatoid arthritis and
leukemia patients. Subuh warned of the continuing crisis of shortage of
medicines and its impact on patients’ conditions, as any regularity delay in
medicine leads to the deterioration of patients’ health conditions and may also
lead to death.

For his
part, Dr. Asraf Abu Mhadi, Director General of Pharmacy in the Ministry of
Health, gave a presentation titled ‘The role of the Gaza Ministry of Health in Providing
Rheumatoid Arthritis and Leukemia Patients with Medicines,’ in which he
outlined the acute shortage of medicines and medical supplies in the Gaza Strip
due to the increased demand and their high prices on the one hand, and the
continuous state of emergency because of the Israeli attacks and closure, on
the other hand. Abu Mhadi added that the Gaza Ministry of Health provides 480
types of medicines and 902 types of medical supplies, and that the Ministry
will prepare a list that includes an increase in medicines and medical supplies
in the next year, 2014. He also added that the Ministry is following up the
improvements and drops in levels of the health services for patients in Gaza,
and that it followed up the improvements at the level of intensive care
service, emergency services and provision of medicines.

The
workshop concluded with a discussion, in which the participants raised many
questions. The following recommendations were made:

– To
unite the efforts of different parties supervising the health sector in order
to improve it and provide rheumatoid arthritis and leukemia patients with the
necessary medicine.

– To
call on both Ministries of Health in Ramallah and Gaza to increase their
budgets of health spending and to give priority to health and educational
aspects rather than to the security allocations.

– To
call on both Ministries of Health in Ramallah and Gaza to improve the database
of rheumatoid arthritis and leukemia patients in the Gaza Strip to identify
their pharmaceutical needs accurately.

– To
support the formation of a constituent committee for an NGO that supports
rheumatoid arthritis patients in order to make a local initiative for the
national institutions to contribute to the provision of the appropriate
treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and leukemia patients.

– To
create a national fund to support cancer and rheumatoid arthritis patients to organize
a campaign at the national, regional and international levels, whose members will
supervise the provision of financial support and contribute to resolving the
crisis of the shortage of medicines that are necessary for rheumatoid arthritis
and leukemia patients. Such national fund will communicate with the Arab
foundations and donor countries.

– To
form a committee supervised by all the parties to be responsible for the
process of coordination and cooperation to provide rheumatoid arthritis and
leukemia patients in the Gaza Strip with the necessary medicines.