Ramallah - Saba:
The Palestinian Ministry of Health stated that while the world is marking World Health Day, which falls tomorrow, Monday, under the slogan "A Healthy Beginning for a Promising Future," Palestine is experiencing a tragic health situation for the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip, and the near-total collapse of the health system, at a time when medical and humanitarian needs are increasing at an unprecedented rate.
The Ministry of Health added in a statement issued on Sunday: "On World Health Day, we remind the world that the right to health is still being denied to millions of Palestinians, and that children, women, the elderly, and the sick in the Gaza Strip face the risk of death in the absence of even the most basic components of health care, the depletion of medicines and medical supplies, and the cessation of most hospitals due to fuel shortages."
She continued: "We remember this day while the wounded are being treated on the ground, surgeries are being performed without anesthesia, and doctors are working under harsh conditions with virtually no resources. Most hospitals have ceased operations due to direct targeting, putting them out of service. Fuel is running out, and there are shortages of equipment, medicines, and medical staff, in a scene that embodies a humanitarian catastrophe by all standards."
She added: "We also remember this day while medical and emergency personnel are being systematically targeted. Doctors, nurses, and paramedics are being threatened and directly targeted, and health facilities and ambulances are being bombed, which constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and human rights."
The Ministry noted that "the peoples of the world enjoy their right to receive treatment and healthcare with freedom and dignity, while the children of Gaza are denied incubators, pregnant mothers lose their lives at the doorsteps of hospitals, the wounded are detained without treatment, and patients are prevented from traveling abroad for treatment, as if the right to life has become a luxury denied to Palestinians."
It warned of the continuing deterioration of the health system in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, as a result of ongoing violations by the enemy, obstruction of patients' access to hospitals, and storming of health facilities. This is compounded by the stifling financial crisis resulting from the piracy of clearance revenues, which threatens the continuity of basic health services.
The Ministry called on the international community, the World Health Organization, and international and human rights organizations to assume their legal and humanitarian responsibilities and take urgent action to save what remains of the Palestinian health system, stop targeting hospitals, secure the entry of medicines, medical supplies, and fuel, and provide safe passages for the transport of the wounded and sick for treatment.
The Ministry also called on the international community to fulfill its responsibilities and put an end to this health and humanitarian catastrophe facing the Palestinian people.
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