WHO hands over refrigerated vehicles to strengthen vaccine cold chain
East Jerusalem, 1 February 2022 - WHO in oPt handed over two refrigerated vehicles worth US$ 93 000 to the Palestinian Ministry of Health as part of its ongoing support to the health system and the national response to COVID-19.
The vehicles, funded by the Federal Republic of Germany, will bolster efforts to strengthen the vaccine cold chain to ensure that COVID-19 and other vaccines can be transported safely and efficiently from the warehouse to health facilities across the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
“I thank the Federal Republic of Germany and the World Health Organization for supporting the Palestinian health system. This support will help the Ministry of Health in combating COVID-19 and in continuing the vaccination campaign with increased efficiency across Palestine”, Dr Mai Al-Keilahh, Palestinian Minister of Health.
Since March 2020, WHO in oPt has provided essential COVID-19 response equipment and supplies worth over US$ 18.5 million to the Ministry across oPt. The COVID-19 response is helping to improve the resilience and preparedness of the overall health system too.
“Together with a continuing focus on other areas of the COVID-19 response such as testing, surveillance, case management, risk communication, and vaccination, in collaboration with the Ministry, we are also investing in the vaccine cold chain. This is to not only boost COVID-19 vaccination efforts but also to improve the long-term sustainability of the larger immunization system of oPt”, said Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in oPt.
Earlier this week, WHO in oPt also provided two glovebox machines worth approximately US$ 300 000, funded by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, to the Ministry to protect health workers from contamination and exposure while handling hazardous and potentially contagious biochemical materials.
For more information:
Kazem Abu Khalaf
+972 542168723
About WHO
The World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, WHO works with 194 Member States across six regions, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and well-being.
Saleem, a 16-year-old child with leukaemia, dies after barriers to hospital admission
Saleem An-Nawati was 16 years old from Gaza and had acute leukaemia diagnosed in late 2021. He was initially referred for an appointment at An-Najah University Hospital in Nablus in the West Bank on 28 November 2021, but he received no definitive response to his permit application in time for his appointment. Saleem was delayed a permit to reach treatment on two further occasions, for appointments at An-Najah Hospital on 6 and 19 December.
Finally, on 26 December 2021, Saleem travelled to Nablus accompanied by his uncle, after receiving a permit. However, on 21 December 2021 An-Najah University Hospital had announced that it would be unable to receive patients referred by the Palestinian Ministry of Health because of outstanding debts affecting the procurement of essential medicines and supplies. After reaching the hospital, Saleem was not admitted and instead went with his uncle to the department for referrals in Ramallah. The Services Purchasing Unit of the Ministry of Health tried to secure a referral to several Palestinian hospitals but none were able to accept Saleem, who had been referred for specialist investigations for acute leukaemia. On 3 January, the referrals department contacted Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, where an appointment was secure for 9 January.
After his travel to the West Bank, Saleem’s family appealed through different routes for his admission to hospital. condition deteriorated. After an appointment had been secured at Ichilov Hospital for 9 January, the family was advised that Saleem should return to Gaza in order to apply for a permit to reach the hospital as direct referral from the West Bank would not be possible.
During his time in the West Bank, Saleem’s health deteriorated substantially. On 9 January, he again attended the Services Purchasing Unit with his uncle trying to resolve the issue of his direct referral to Ichilov Hospital. Saleem was visibly unwell and was rushed to the Palestinian Medical Complex by ambulance as an emergency case, where he died shortly afterwards.
Palestine receives its largest COVAX shipment, funded by the Governments of Germany and Italy
30 December 2021 – Last night, Palestine received its largest COVAX shipment to date, containing more than 453 600 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, funded by the Governments of Germany and Italy. The vaccine doses were transferred to the Ministry of Health’s vaccine storage facilities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Further consignments of COVAX vaccine doses are planned for Palestine to cover 20% of the population – approximately 1 million people. These doses are for both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, according to the prioritization criteria of the national deployment and vaccination plan.
COVAX is a global facility representing partnership between the World Health Organization (WHO), GAVI - the Vaccine Alliance, United Nation’s Children Fund (UNICEF) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) working on the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. It includes 190 countries with a total population of more than 7 billion people and ensures fair and equal access to COVID-19 vaccines supplied through UNICEF. WHO and UNICEF are supporting the Government of Palestine’s national vaccination campaign.
For more information:
Damian Rance
Chief of Communications
UNICEF Palestine
World Health Organization launches a series of Mass Casualty Management (MCM) Training targeting main public hospitals in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank
23 December 2021 - With generous support from the oPt Humanitarian Fund, the European Union Humanitarian Aid and the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) completed the first of a series of Mass Casualty Management training for Shifa hospital’s emergency department in Gaza. It is the first of its kind in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). The training targeted high-level representation of the hospital and included the hospital’s general director, heads of emergency and surgical departments, and the administration of the medical complex.
The occupied Palestinian territory has faced numerous conflicts in densely populated urbanised areas, often resulting in large numbers of civilian casualties. Recently this has manifested in over 2,200 injuries in the Gaza Strip and 261 deaths over a period of 11 days1 during the May 2021 escalation of hostilities, topping the already existing 36,143 injuries and 214 deaths resulting from the 15 month-long Great March of Return mass demonstrations2.
WHO pro-actively supports building the capacity of the public health system to manage large numbers of casualties at the same time beyond the system’s usual capacity. This will be made possible by enhancing emergency preparedness and response by expanding the Mass Casualty Management knowledge, attitude, practice, and concepts at the emergency department level and collectively addressing the complete cycle of mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.
Commenting on its importance, Dr. Mohammed Attar, Head of Emergency Unit at the General Hospitals’ Administration and an active participant of the Mass Casualty Management training, said: “ the training is a priority and a dream to us. We are convinced that the emergency system in hospitals is in dire need to this kind of knowledge and practice”.
Palestinian medical leaders were trained to manage large influx of mass casualty incidents, addressing the systemic gaps in mass casualty management. Through this unprecedented activity, the World Health Organization has initiated a process for establishing the minimum standard operational procedures for MCM at the emergency departments’ level.
The training was planned, organized and delivered by MCM certified WHO experts, with technical support from the WHO Academy and coordination with the Trauma Operational and Advisory Team TOpAT from the WHO regional office. The training course will be delivered to the main public hospitals in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Dr. Mohammed Attar added: “If continued and if its protocols are adopted, the training will positively affect the emergency departments. Our gratitude is extended to the WHO team Dr. Gargavanis, Dr. Abu Teir and Dr. Abu Olwan) for their continuous support”.
For further information
Gaza
Raghda AbuShahla
+970 599499907
Jerusalem
Kazem Abu Khalaf
+972 542168723
1 OCHA oPt: The Humanitarian Bulletin | Gaza after the May escalation - November 2021
2 Two years on: people injured and traumatized during the “Great March of Return” are still struggling