Saturday 4 April 2009

WHO: Ramallah authority responsible for blocking treatment of Gaza patients


Source

[ 04/04/2009 - 08:09 AM ]

NEW YORK, (PIC)-- The World Health Organization held the PA leadership in Ramallah fully responsible for the death of tens of Palestinian patients in the Gaza Strip for not approving their treatment abroad.

The acting head of the WHO office in Gaza Strip and the West Bank Tony Lawrence has expressed his organization's concern at the situation in Gaza where sick people could die if not properly treated.

He said that ever since the government in Gaza started to endorse transfer of patients abroad for treatment the authority in Ramallah did not provide approval or necessary financing of those transfers, which complicated the conditions of the patients who suffer from serious diseases.

Lawrence explained that Israel and Egypt were refusing to allow the travel of those patients from Gaza unless the PA in Ramallah approved it.

The UN humanitarian affairs coordinator in the Palestinian lands interfered to find an urgent solution to the situation but to no avail, according to the UN official website.

WHO reported that around 900 sick individuals used to travel for treatment outside Gaza each month, adding that they headed to hospitals in Egypt, Jordan, eastern Jerusalem and Israel.


European campaign asks PA to spare Gaza patients the political wrangling

[ 04/04/2009 - 03:58 PM ]

BRUSSELS, (PIC)-- The European campaign to lift the siege on Gaza has expressed surprise at the news report that the PA in Ramallah was blocking travel of Gaza patients abroad for life-saving medical treatment.

Mohammed Hanun, the representative of the campaign in Italy, said in a press statement on Saturday that the World Health Organization had confirmed that the travel of those patients was hinged on Ramallah's approval as both Egypt and Israel refuses to allow those patients access without prior approval of Ramallah.

He said that his campaign views with utmost concern such a report, adding that refusal of Ramallah authority to approve travel of those patients or to shoulder their expenses would mean the death of more patients with 315 of them already dead because of that siege and inability to travel outside Gaza.

Hanun asked Ramallah to spare the seriously ill citizens in Gaza the inter-Palestinian political wrangling, adding that those patients had enough troubles whether the oppressive siege or the cruel war.

Depriving the Gaza patients of the necessary financing also means deepening the rift between the Gaza strip and the West Bank, he elaborated.

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