Health care in the Palestinian territories

Healthcare in the Palestinian territories refers to the governmental and private healthcare providers to which residents in the Palestinian region have access. Since 1967, there have been improvements in the access to healthcare and the overall general health conditions for residents in that region. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

Between 1993 and 1995, the State of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) reached a series of pacts collectively known as the Oslo Accords. The accords were facilitated by the international community, led by the United States and the Russian Federation. Significantly, the pacts set a timeline for the final status negotiations of the occupied Palestinian territories (Gaza and the West Bank) and established an autonomous Palestinian National Authority (PNA) that could administrate the occupied territories during the ensuing interim period. Hence, a "phased" peace process was set in motion wherein the Palestinians would have an interim governmental body (the PNA) until such a time as "final status" negotiations would establish an official Palestinian state as part of a two state solution. The accords transferred jurisdiction over Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank from Israel to the PNA, whose charter calls for the creation of a democratically elected Legislative Council that could write laws pertaining to the economic, security, educational and health care needs of Gaza and West Bank Palestinians. Meanwhile, the Palestinian refugees residing in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria remained under the auspices of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), pending a final agreement to determine their status. Historically, after their initial displacement, the United Nations (UN) created an ad hoc agency to service the needs of Palestinian refugees rather than placing them under the care of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Thus, the accords maintained the status quo for the refugees living in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria as they have been under UNRWA protection since 1949.

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