The Palestinian Health Policy Forum has, in the last two months, studied the implications of the political, financial and economic sanctions post the Palestinian Legislative Council elections and the formation of the new Palestinian Government reflected through the suspension of the International Aid by the American Government and the European Union, coupled with the Israeli government withholding of Palestinian tax revenues, restricting Palestinian trade activities, movement of labor, the ghetoization of towns and cities along with the continued constructions of the apartheid annexation and expansion wall, the expansion of settlements, control over natural resources and the increased checkpoints denying people access to services- particularly in health- and severely hampering Palestinian's potential and aspirations towards establishing a Palestinian State.
It is in this context that the Palestinian Health Policy Forum has conducted a series of consultative meetings including a national workshop in which tens of Palestinian heath care leaders, representatives of health care civil societies and the private sector participated and concluded recommendations cautioning against the emergence of a humanitarian health and social catastrophe resulting from the economic deterioration and its implications on the health of the Palestinian people which has been increasingly jeopardized since the eruption of the Palestinian uprising.
Discussions have repeatedly stressed that the above mentioned financial and economic sanctions imposed on the Palestinians will have a long lasting effect depriving Palestinians from meeting the Millennium Development Goals and the various UN recommendations.
Meetings have further stressed astonishment and frustration over selectiveness in dealing with health issues reflecting a clear and unacceptable bias and discrimination. At the time the international community is diligently facing the Avian Flue and allocates millions of dollars to that end in Palestine, allowing its teams to communicate with the Ministry of Health, it – in parallel – imposes political and economic sanctions on the Ministry of Health which provides basic health services to the Palestinians. This selectiveness and double standards are unjustified and appalling.
With such implications and challenges, the Palestinian Health Policy Forum is presenting recommendations to the International Community, humanitarian organizations, the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority ad follows:
First: To the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinian Health Policy Forum calls the Palestinian Authority to:
- Move forward with the reform program and the rationalization process initiated last year and activate mechanisms to continue its work on meeting programs and objectives-particularly strategic planning -to ensure complementation amongst health care providers.
- Call upon Palestinian health institutions to tackle the emerging situation ensuring coordination and partnership in putting forward an emergency plan to deal with the current situation and its implications.
- Design an effective mechanism for monitoring effects of the aforementioned policies through the monitoring of health and humanitarian indicators and publishing periodic reports on health conditions.
- Play a more active role in deepening partnerships with Palestinian institutions and UN and other agencies which expressed a positive and objective attitude towards Palestinians in dealing with the imposed polices and procedures.
- Carry a media campaign covering the implications of the imposed policies and procedures and exposing the international community's responsibility towards implications with particular focus on the World Health Organization's meeting which will take place in few weeks.
Second: To the Israeli Government.
The Palestinian Health Policy Forum through general consultative meetings it held emphasizes the responsibility of the Israeli Government being an occupation government and in the context of the 4th Geneva Convention, of the social and health conditions of the Palestinian people. Israel's past and present policies and procedure are the main cause of Palestinian's ill health and lack of well being. The continuation of occupation and its apartheid wall are considered the main deterrents towards bettering the health of the Palestinian people.
In this context, the Palestinian Health Policy Forum calls upon the international community to exert utmost pressure on Israel to:
- Resume tax revenue remittances to the Palestinians.
- Lift checkpoints and allow for free movement and access to basic health care services and specialized Palestinian health care services in Jerusalem.
- Stop impeding humanitarian aid and harassment of health care human resources and services.
- Remove imposed trade restrictions and labor flows as well as economic and financial sanctions.
Third: Internationally
Meeting the Millennium Development Goals and WHO aspirations for Health for All are jeopardized by policies of economic and financial sanctions imposed on the Palestinian people and the weakening of its health care system at a time when Palestinian health leaders and decision makers are intensively working towards reforming and rehabilitating the system.
Additionally, suspension of financial aid will push thousands of Palestinian families to poverty lines and increases the marginalization of the weak, the elderly, children and those with special needs negatively affecting their health. It will also seriously affect women's health and women’s status in their communities at a time when the international community is calling for women empowerment and for strengthening their role in society. Health has become a right of people with responsibility towards its attainment shouldered also by the international community.
The international community's responsibility in preventing the deterioration of the health conditions of the Palestinian people is a moral, humanitarian and rights- based issues not subject to compromise. The international community which calls for respect of principles and rights cannot turn its back on its commitments. The international community's position will be certainly shaken by this discrepancy between principles and actions.
In this context, the Palestinian Health Policy Forum:
- Calls upon the international community to exert pressure on governments to lift economic and financial sanctions imposed on the Palestinian people and to offer needed financial aid.
- Realizes that selective health care policies in dealing with humanitarian aid reflect clear bias which is incongruent with human rights espoused by the international community.
- Expresses its sorrow and anxiety over the utilization of financial sanctions over the health care system as a political tool. Health is an unconditional right, not to be sanctioned.
- Strongly believes that the Ministry of Health should not be surpassed. The collapse of the Ministry of Health which provides basic health care services regulates the health care system and monitors environmental indicators will have monumental impact on the health of the Palestinians. Additionally, International organizations operating in the Palestinian territories could not substitute or replace the ministry of health, not only due to lack of readiness and ability to shoulder additional chores but also because the Ministry of Health is the national propeller for the sustainability of health services towards meeting the health care needs of the Palestinian people.
- Holds the international community responsible for the deterioration of the health status of the Palestinian people. Women disempowerment, inability to meet the Millennium Development Goals and Health for all, poverty eradication and helping the marginalized will be the main consequences of the financial and economic sanctions imposed on the Palestinian people.
- Acknowledges with appreciation the position of several international organizations particularly UN agencies which repeatedly called for the importance of continuation of aid through their humanitarian and development programs and their unacceptance to act as a substitute to the authority in providing basic services as well as their frustration over using aid on political basis.
Fourth: Palestinian civil society
The Palestinian Health Policy Forum calls upon Palestinian civil society institutions- particularly those in health- which have played a distinguished and a complimentary role in the past, to follow up on their principles and political awareness in effectively dealing with the current situation and to:
- Deepen the partnership between civil society organizations and the Ministry of Health to face challenges and to continue to hold consultative meetings to follow up on the situation.
- Emphasize the role of the Ministry of Health as the shepherd for the health of the Palestinian people whilst stressing that civil society organizations play a complementary role to the prime role of the Ministry of Health and are in no way a substitute or replacement to the Ministry of Health.
- Participate in producing an emergency plan identifying priorities, strategies and programs targeting the needy and those most affected by the situation.
- Challenge political finical aid.
- Lobby with international organizations and partners for support to lift economic and financial sanctions.
- Conduct surveys on indicators to monitor the health status as a consequence of policies discussed above.
- Promote readiness of civil society organizations to shoulder responsibility towards health care as a complement to the role of the Ministry of Health.