Ref: 73/2011 

On Wednesday, 02 November 2011, the Palestinian
Center for Human Rights’ (PCHR) Economic and Social Rights Unit organized a
workshop titled “Conditions of Health Services Provided to Children in the
Gaza Strip” in al-Quds Hotel in Gaza City.  A number of representatives from the civil
society organizations and workers in the health sector attended the workshop.

Khalil Shahin, Director of PCHR’s Economic and
Social Rights Unit, opened the workshop.  He noted that PCHR is keen to follow up the conditions
of health services provided to children by the public and the private sectors
and by the civil society organizations.  He
welcomed participants and explained that the workshop was organized as part of continued
coordination between PCHR and health organizations in the Gaza Strip in order
to enhance, respect and protect Palestinians’ right to enjoy the highest level
of physical and mental health in accordance with international human rights
standards and Palestinian laws.

Dr. Laila Hamid, Director of the Palestinian
Ministry of Health’s Department of Child Health, delivered a presentation titled
“Health Services to Children in the Gaza Strip … Reality and
Challenges.”  Dr. Hamid talked about
the nature of health services provided by the Palestinian Ministry of Health to
children, especially in the area of vaccinations and primary healthcare.  She also talked about the challenges facing
the Ministry of Health, especially the shortage of medicines in health centers
that provide health services to children.

Dr. Mohammed Shahato, Director of UNRWA’s
clinic in Gaza City, presented UNRWA’s message in the area of health, noting
that this message focuses on protecting and improving the health of Palestinian
refugee children, including children in the Gaza Strip. Dr. Shahato reviewed
the different aspects of health and sanitation services provided to refugee
children in the Gaza Strip.

Dr. Adnan al-Weheidi, Executive Manager of Ard
El Ensan Charity, presented an intervention on “Healthy Growth of Children
in the Gaza Strip: Child Nutrition.” He noted that indicators of the
alimentary situation of the children in the Gaza Strip have deteriorated to
dangerous levels. Dr. al-Weheidi warned of the confusion made between the
relation between growth, nutrition and health, the continued lack of a database
of child nutrition and growth, and of non-development of technical measuring mechanisms
used to measure indicators of nutrition and growth.  Dr. al-Weheidi called for taking serious
action in order to avoid dangerous indicators of nutrition and growth among the
children in the Gaza Strip, such as malnutrition, including child’s physical
growth, iron-deficiency anemia and rates of short statures which have been
standing at 13.8% for decades.  Al-Weheidi
called for conducting deep analysis of the causes of deterioration of
indicators of nutrition and growth among children, and for benefiting from
experiences of workers who made achievements in the field.

In his intervention titled “Psychological
Health Services Provided to Children in the Gaza Strip … Challenges and Solutions,”
Dr. Mustafa al-Masri, Consultant of the World Health Organizations, criticized
the psychological health services provided to children in the Gaza Strip.  He noted that these services are weak and that
only few organizations provide such services.  He even criticized the quality of the services
provided in this field.  He further
criticized the weak qualifications of, and training services provided to the
staff that worked in this area over the past years.  Al-Masri noted that there is a project which would
be implemented with the Ministry of Health. This project is aimed at combining
the psychological health services with the primary healthcare in public health
institutions.  He said that the project
is in its first stages and that it would include the construction of
psychological health clinics supported by psychological support staff to
provide help to patients with psychological problems.

Dr. Reyad al-Zaanoun, former Health Minister
and Chairman of PCHR Board of Directors, called for activating the National
Committee for the Health of Children.  He
called for incorporating the four sectors which provide health services in the
Gaza Strip, which are the public sector, the private sector, the civil society
and UNRWA, in this Committee to re-evaluate and develop policies of child
health. He called for increasing the level of coordination between the Ministry
of Health and UNRWA as they are the main parties that provide health services
in the Gaza Strip. Dr. al-Zaanoun warned of neglecting children in certain ages
and called for paying attention to different health programs directed to
teenagers.

At the end of the workshop, participants were
given the opportunity to engage in discussions.  Participants concluded by presenting a number
of recommendations as follows:

1. Calling for unification of efforts exerted by the public sector,
the private sector and civil society organizations that provide health services
in order to improve the level of physical health services provided to children
in the Gaza Strip.

2. Reiterating that the Israeli closure imposed on the Gaza Strip,
including the ban on the provision of medical supplies, foods and medical
consumables, is a systematic Israeli policy which must be stopped immediately.  The participants called upon the international
community to take effective action in order to put an end to this policy and to
open all the crossings leading from and to the Gaza Strip.

3. Reactivating the National Committee for the Health of Children,
including the re-formation of the Committee by including experienced staff. The
participants also called for increasing the level of coordination between the
Ministry of Health and UNRWA to improve the level of health services provided
to children in the Gaza Strip. This includes the activation of periodical
meetings to redevelop plans and strategies in the area of provision of physical
health services to the children.

4. Calling for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza and
Ramalla to spare the children from the roar of the political conflict, and to
guarantee the best level of physical and mental health services for all children
in the Gaza Strip based on equality and without discrimination.