RAMALLAH, January 8, 2014 (WAFA) - A new report by Physicians for Human Rights–Israel published Thursday a report which suggests Palestinians have a lower life expectancy and poorer health in comparison to Israelis, despite living in one region and under the same regime.
The report titled “Divide and Conquer”, made a comparison of health conditions in the Occupied Territories and in Israel by using health indicators and socio-economic determinants of health that influence the residents’ ability to exercise their right to health.
The report found out there are significant gaps between indicators for the Israelis and Palestinians; the average life expectancy for Palestinians is about 10 years lower than for Israelis, infant mortality is five times higher in the Occupied Territories than in Israel (18.8 per 1,000 births as compared to 3.7), and maternal mortality is four times higher in the Occupied Territories than in Israel (28 per 100,000 births as compared to 7).
Gaps were also found in the financing of, the services provided by, and the manpower available to the Palestinian healthcare system, it added.
The report showed that the national expenditure on health per person in the Occupied Territories is about one eighth of the Israeli health expenditure.
It indicated that the rate of physicians per capita in Israel (3.33) is higher than in the Palestinian territories (2.08 physicians per 1,000 residents), the rate of specialists is eight times higher in Israel than in the Occupied Territories (1.76 as compared to 0.22), and the rate of nurses in Israel is 4.8 per 1,000 residents, whereas there are only 1.9 nurses per 1,000 residents in the Occupied Territories.
According to PHR, infectious diseases are much more common in the Occupied Territories than in Israel, however many inoculations given in Israel that not given in the Occupied Territories, such vaccations against hepatitis A, chicken pox, pneumonia, rota virus, and human papillomavirus.
The report also reviewed the Israeli mechanisms of control, which prevent the Palestinian Ministry of Health – which has its own faults – from providing full health services to the residents of the Occupied Territories, with detrimental impacts on their health.
The report explained that Israel's imposed limitations on the freedom of movement of patients, medical staff and medications is one such mechanism of control.
It added that the Israeli control of the Palestinian budget, including the health budget, for instance through control of the customs and Value Added Tax revenue for goods entering the Occupied Territories poses an obstacle for the Palestinian health sector.
PHR said that Israel takes advantage of its control over the collection of these funds and often denies its transfer to the Palestinian Authority as a punitive measure; most recently in the aftermath of joining the International Criminal Court. This policy interferes with the financing of the Palestinian healthcare system and condemns it to providing poorer health services.
The study of the Palestinian health system showed that it suffers 'chronic crisis', with the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories standing out as the main reason behind it.
Mor Efrat, A Coordinator at the Occupied Territories Department of Physicians for Human Rights–Israel: “It is Israel’s obligation to provide all the services that exceed the ability of the [Palestinian] Ministry of Health, so that a Palestinian child and an Israeli child, who may live only a few hundred yards apart, receive equitable medical care.”
The study included Israeli Jewish settlers among residents of Israel, despite residing illegally in the West Bank, as they are allowed to benefit from the Israeli healthcare system and are segregated from Palestinians in the same areas.
M.H
