GAZA, December 6, 2016 (WAFA) – The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that rate in October for Israeli-issued permits for Gaza patients seeking medical treatment in West Bank, Jerusalem or Israeli hospitals was lowest in seven years.
It said in its monthly report on referrals for Gaza patients that of 2,019 patient permit applications to exit Gaza through Erez (Beit Hanoun) checkpoint for hospital appointments in October, 44.08 percent were approved, the lowest approval rate since April 2009.
It said that 125 patients, or 6.19 percent, were denied permits, including five children and six elderly persons over 60 years, while 1,004 patients, 49.73 percent, received no response, including 265 children and 116 elderly people over 60.
The report said that 84 percent of Gaza patients’ permit requests were to access treatment within the occupied Palestinian territory, in East Jerusalem or elsewhere in the West Bank.
It said almost two-thirds of patients’ companions were either denied or delayed.
The approval rate for permit applications of patient companions was 38 percent, 7 percent of the companions were denied permits and the remaining 55 percent were still pending as of the patients’ hospital dates.
In addition, 14 patients, among them six females, were requested by the Israeli General Security Services for interviews at Erez during October. One was approved.
WHO said that its request for permits for four humanitarian health workers to go through Erez was not approved. Three were denied and one pending, it said.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health issued 2,098 referrals for 1,989 patients in October for outside care in oncology, pediatrics, ophthalmology, orthopedics, and hematology.
M.K.
