Healthcare in the State of Palestine

Healthcare in the State of Palestine refers to the governmental and private healthcare providers to which residents in the claimed territory have access.[1] Since 1967, there have been improvements in the access to healthcare and the overall general health conditions for residents.[2] Advances in training, increased access to state-of-the-art medical technology, and various governmental provisions have allowed per-capita funding to increase, and therefore the overall health of residents in the region to increase.[3] Additionally, the enhanced access to and funding from international organizations like the World Health Organization, the United Nations, the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and the World Bank Education and Health Rehabilitation Project have contributed to the current state of affairs within the healthcare segment of the Palestinian territories.[4]

However, while many efforts at enhancing the state of health affairs within the Palestinian territories have shown improvement, there are still efforts to be made. Continued efforts to recognize and address the geopolitical barriers will be necessary in order to continue to have significant success in this field.[5] Finally, addressing demographic trends within the region, like differing pregnancy rates and mortality rates, will be necessary to enhance the state of health affairs that the Palestinian territories face.[6] This article addresses each of these issues in more explanatory detail, giving an overview of the major legal and ethical developments in healthcare within the Palestinian territories, and discussing further obstacles that the region faces due to infrastructural and political barriers.

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative[7] finds that Palestine is fulfilling 83.8% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to health based on its level of income.[8] When looking at the right to health with respect to children, Palestine achieves 97.4% of what is expected based on its current income.[8] In regards to the right to health amongst the adult population, the country achieves 95.4% of what is expected based on the nation's level of income.[8] Palestine falls into the "very bad" category when evaluating the right to reproductive health because the nation is fulfilling only 58.7% of what the nation is expected to achieve based on the resources (income) it has available.[8]

  1. ^ Gordon, Neve (1997). "Palestinian Health Care: Neglect and Crisis". Palestine-Israel Journal. 4 (2).
  2. ^ Barghouti, Mustafa. Palestinian Health: Toward a Healthy Development Strategy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Jerusalem: Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees, 1993.
  3. ^ Barghouti, Mustafa and Ibrahim Daibes. Infrastructure and Health Services in the West Bank: Guidelines for Health-Care Planning. Ramallah: The Health Development Information Project, in Cooperation with the World Health Organization, 1993.
  4. ^ Health in Judea, Samaria and Gaza: 1967-1994. Jerusalem: The Ministry of Health, 1994.
  5. ^ The World Bank, Developing the Occupied Territories: An Investment in Peace. Washington D.C.: The World Bank, 1993.
  6. ^ Mahmoud, Adel (2013-03-05). "Health Challenges in Palestine". Science & Diplomacy. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  7. ^ "Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries". humanrightsmeasurement.org. Archived from the original on 2023-03-29. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  8. ^ a b c d "Palestine - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Archived from the original on 2023-03-29. Retrieved 2022-03-26.