By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – The Israeli blockade on Gaza is having a disastrous effect on the health of pregnant women in the seaside region, according to a recently released study by the World Health Organization (WHO) office based in Jerusalem.
According to the WHO’s July 2009 assessment, inadequate infrastructure, a lack of proper equipment, and a shortage in trained medical personnel have all led to a decline in the quality of hospital care provided to new mothers and their babies. The WHO attributes these conditions to the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, which began in July 2007, when Hamas took control of the government in Gaza.
“The Israeli blockade affects the supply of medical equipment and conditions in the maternity wards, and perpetuates the isolation of healthcare professionals, making it difficult to maintain international standards of practice,” said Tony Laurence, head of the WHO West Bank and Gaza Office in Jerusalem.
Munir al-Bursh, head of Gaza’s Department of Pharmaceuticals, reported that ten types of medications essential for proper maternal care, such as Prostin gel, which induces labor, are completely out of stock in the territory. One pregnant woman reported sending her husband to search for a needed medication while she was in the delivery room.
Pre- and post-natal care also suffers in Gaza. The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported that seventy percent of the nearly 1.5 million Gazans suffer from anemia, including forty-four percent of pregnant women. Additionally, women are typically discharged within two hours after giving birth, due to a lack of beds. In its report, the WHO advocated increasing the in-patient time to six hours. Compounding the problem is a lack of adequately trained midwives. The blockade has isolated midwives working in the Gaza Strip, leading to outdated medical knowledge and stifling the flow of information about medical advances.
Israel’s Ministry of Defense has said that medical supplies have priority as imports into Gaza, but that Israel is not obliged to allow anything into the territory aside from basic humanitarian supplies needed for survival.
For more information, please see:
Ma’an News Agency – Gaza Mothers, Newborns Affected by Israeli Blockade (IRIN) – 20 August 2009
Association of International Development Agencies – The Gaza Blockade: Children and Education Fact Sheet – July 2009
The Guardian – No Gourmets in Gaza – 16 June 2009
VOA News – Conditions for Palestinian Refugees in Gaza Deteriorating – 22 May 2009
IslamOnline.net – Blockade Worsens Gaza Malnutrition – 2 June 2008
