The presentation will describe the short- and long-term effects of the Israeli policies and practices during the second Palestinian uprising, starting September 2000, on about 3 million Palestinians living under military occupation in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip. Several aspects of the situation will be presented including Israel's excessive use of force to combat the Palestinian uprising leading to Palestinian deaths, injuries, and disabilities. Attacks on medical and emergency teams on duty and hospitals will also be presented. Additionally, the effects of the internal siege (Israelis have erected hundreds of checkpoints at the entrance of each Palestinian village or town, isolating these communities from each other) and external closures (cutting off Palestinian territories from the rest of the world) on health of Palestinians will be presented. I will focus on the effects of the siege and closures on health care provision, especially for surveillance activities, supervision and referrals, secondary and tertiary services in urban areas, primary health care special programs such as vaccination services and maternal and child health programs. Also, the psychological effects of the military conflict on Palestinians, especially children, will be explored. Finally, I will review what Palestinians and Palestinian health organizations have done to cope with the poor health conditions. See www.hdip.org/
Learning Objectives: At the end of the session the participant will be able to recognize the comprehensive effects of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the health conditions of Palestinians.
Keywords: War, Barriers to Care
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.