UN agency responds to worsening health situation in Palestinian self-rule areas

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Tuesday that the ongoing conflict and violence in the Middle East was taking a heavy toll on the fragile health system in the Palestinian self rule areas.

According to WHO, not only is the high level of injury and psychological trauma straining medical services, but the closure of borders and roads is undermining the fledgling health referral system, constraining care for those suffering from ill-health unrelated to the conflict.

"This is a burden to the Palestinian health system, which was developing and progressing in the spirit of peace, but it was weak and dependent on support. So there is an additional workload draining enormous resources which are necessary for combating the usual communicable and non-communicable diseases that are prevailing in the area," WHO expert Dr. Khalid Shibibi told the UN News Service.

Dr. Shibibi said WHO was giving priority to helping to treat the more than 10,000 people who have been injured -- almost half severely -- since the clashes began in September.

The agency has dispatched a number of emergency trauma kits to Ramallah, Beit Jahla and Jenin Hospitals in the West Bank to help them cope with acute needs.

WHO has also prepared an appeal for $7.5 million covering both immediate conflict-related needs and the activities needed to prepare the Palestinian health system for a potentially deepening crisis.