World Mental Health Day in the occupied Palestinian territory: “How is your Mental Health?”
10 October 2018 – WHO, in collaboration with the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the European Union (EU) and the Sharek Youth Forum, today launched a campaign to raise awareness about mental health to mark the occasion of World Mental Health Day, which takes place on 10 October every year. The campaign focuses on young people and mental health in a changing world.
Young Palestinians are leading two campaigns to draw attention to the issues they face and the challenges of growing up in the occupied Palestinian territory. They want to begin a conversation in the West Bank and Gaza about what young people can do to grow up healthy and resilient in the face of social difficulties.
The first campaign is a social media campaign, led by the Sharek Youth Forum in Ramallah in the West Bank, which began on World Mental Health Day with the hashtag #How_is_your_Mental_Health? Several short videos and posters are to be uploaded on Facebook carrying messages from adolescents and experts on mental well-being and healthy lifestyles. The same hashtag will be used in social media activities in Gaza, where a similar awareness-raising campaign will be launched.
WHO and the Palestinian Ministry of Health have also planned a workshop in the coming weeks for the Student Parliament, which represents 34 schools from across the West Bank. The workshop aims to assist these students in developing activities to carry out in schools to raise awareness on mental health and how to protect mental health in the face of everyday challenges. A counselor at each school will oversee the student events and activities. In Gaza, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of health will provide 200 students with awareness-raising sessions on mental health.
Adolescents are defined by WHO as young people between the ages of 10 and 19 years. For many, this period of transition from childhood to adulthood can be a confusing and difficult time, and so understanding mental health and how to protect mental well-being is crucial.
Dr Gerald Rockenschaub, WHO Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, stated: “Half of all mental health disorders in adulthood start by age 14, but most cases are undetected and untreated. Teaching adolescents methods to cope with psychological stresses can improve mental health for young people at this critical stage of development. Interventions aim to teach young people a range of skills, including how to handle peer pressure, deal with difficult emotions, resolve conflicts, build bridges with friends and family, develop self-confidence, safeguard themselves from high pressure marketing strategies – including those by the tobacco and alcohol industry – as well as to cope with other stresses like academic competition.”
WHO defines mental health as “not merely the absence of mental illness, but as a state of well-being in which all individuals can realize their individual potential, cope with day-to-day stress, and work productively and usefully in a way that contributes to their local communities.” WHO in the occupied Palestinian territory leads a project called Building Palestinian resilience: improving psychosocial and mental health responses to emergency situations. The project, funded by the EU, carries out activities to promote mental well-being, as well as addressing significant gaps in the development of mental health services – including gaps related to mental health service provision in emergency response – in the occupied Palestinian territory.
For further information, please contact:
Rajiah Abu Sway
WHO, Jerusalem office
Tel: 00972547179037
email:
WHO launches report on the Right to Health 2017, October 2018
October 2018, Gaza – WHO today released its report, Right to Health: Crossing barriers to access health in the occupied Palestinian territory 2017. The report examines obstacles to achieving the highest attainable standard of health for Palestinians living under occupation, including barriers to health access and attacks on health care.
Dr Gerald Rockenschaub, Head of WHO in the occupied Palestinian territory, stated: “Enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental right of every human being. Today’s report outlines major obstacles to achieving that right for Palestinians living under chronic occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In 2017, we have seen the lowest approval rate on record for Gaza patients needing access to hospitals in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Israel. This year we have also witnessed a large number of attacks on health staff, ambulances and facilities, with the sad loss of three health colleagues killed while working to treat people injured during protests in the context of Gaza’s “Great March of Return”. We face major challenges in the health sector across the occupied Palestinian territory, with reductions in funding and a shrinking humanitarian space. This event is an opportunity for us to come together, to reflect on these challenges and to consider strategic actions in the coming months to bring about meaningful improvements for the health of Palestinians.'
The WHO report outlines key indicators for monitoring the right to health in the occupied Palestinian territory, and gives detailed analysis of the barriers to access for some of the most vulnerable Palestinian patients who require permits to access specialized health care. At the same event, WHO launched a book of photo stories on the right to health, which give accounts of individual patients and health workers and the difficulties they face. One story is that of Mohammad, a 7-year-old boy from Gaza with cancer in his right hip, and his grandmother Amal. Amal tells of the financial burden of traveling to East Jerusalem for care:
Jamie McGoldrick, the Humanitarian Coordinator and UN Resident Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, stated: “Israel’s restrictions on the free movement of Palestinians and its permit regime has severe consequences for access to health care of an extremely vulnerable group of patients in need of specialist treatments and investigation not available in Gaza or in the West Bank outside of East Jerusalem. A third of these patients are referred for cancer care. A third of these patients are children and young people aged 19 years or under. Three-fifths of these patients faced at least one denial or delay of a permit application in 2017. Collectively we have a responsibility to insist that Palestinians enjoy full and equal rights and have unhindered access to services needed to promote health and wellbeing.”
For more information:contact the Advocacy team:
Related links
Annual report: Right to health
Right to Health photo book: Palestinian voices
WHO video-graphic: the journey of a referral patient from Gaza
WHO strengthens trauma care services in Gaza with support from the European Union, September 2018
13 September 2018 – With support from the European Union, the World Health Organization (WHO) is replenishing stocks of urgently-needed trauma medicines in Gaza, and providing hands-on training for health staff working in frontline trauma stabilization points (TSPs).
Life-saving medicines and medical supplies to treat more than 100 000 people have been delivered to hospitals and TSPs, filling critical gaps as supplies rapidly deplete as a result of increasing numbers of casualties injured in ongoing demonstrations within the context of the Great March of Return that started on 30 March 2018. In coordination with the Ministry of Health and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, WHO supported the capacity-building of more than 60 health workers in 10 TSPs on emergency management of casualties at the TSPs and emergency rooms.
“The role of health workers at trauma stabilization points is crucial,” said Dr Gerald Rockenschaub, WHO’s Head of Office for Gaza and the West Bank. “Health staff in TSPs are usually the first to see wounded patients, and their capacity to resuscitate, stabilize, and treat patients with serious injuries can significantly increase patients’ chances of survival before they are referred to hospital for further medical care.”
From 30 March to the beginning of September 2018, more than 18 000 people have been injured during the ongoing demonstrations in Gaza. Of these, more than 8600 people were managed and directly discharged at TSPs, and almost 9500 referred by TSP health workers to hospitals for specialized care.
“When I was shot in the leg, I was taken to the closest trauma stabilization centre which was less than 5 minutes away. Doctors treated my injury and made sure I was stable enough to be taken to hospital. Without this immediate medical care to save my leg, I would have survived the journey to hospital, but my leg could have been permanently damaged,” said Waleed, one of the thousands of Palestinians treated at the TSPs.
“A chain is only as strong as its weakest link,” says Michelle Čičić, who oversees the EU’s humanitarian operations in Palestine. “It is critical that we are able to provide patients with life-saving care from the point of injury to the moment they are released from hospital. This serves to improve the health system in Gaza as a whole.”
To ensure a comprehensive and coordinated approach to the provision of trauma care in Gaza, WHO has established a dedicated Trauma Working Group with active participation from key partners delivering trauma care across the pathway. Different trauma sub-groups, focusing on areas such as reconstructive surgery and rehabilitation, bring together expertise and knowledge that will ensure quality emergency and trauma care for all injured.
Related infographics
WHO delivers anti-epileptic drugs to Gaza with the support of EU, September 2018
7 Sep 2018, Gaza – The World Health Organization delivered anti-epileptic drugs to the Central Drugs Store of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza on Wednesday 6 September. The procurement of anti-epileptic drugs and other essential psychotropic medicines (medicines used in the treatment of mental health) for the occupied Palestinian territory is a main component of the EU-funded WHO project Building Palestinian resilience: improving psychosocial and mental health responses to emergency situations.
Anti-epileptic drugs are the main type of treatment for most people with epilepsy, aimed at preventing seizures from happening. They are also used in the treatment of neuropathic pain, migraine and bipolar disorder. Epilepsy is a chronic disorder of the brain that affects people worldwide and is characterized by recurrent seizures. There are approximately 12,000 people in Gaza with epilepsy.
There continues to be a long-term shortage and depletion of medicines and medical disposables in Gaza, affecting access to effective health care for patients. In August, 50% of essential medicines, including anti-epileptic drugs, were critically depleted with less than a month’s stock remaining, according to Gaza’s Central Drugs Store. The Palestinian National Mental Health Strategy (2015-2019) recognizes that long-term shortages of psychotropic medicines represent a major challenge to the health sector, hindering the continuity of mental health services for patients in the occupied Palestinian territory. The procurement and delivery of essential medicines to treat mental illness forms a core component of the WHO Mental Health Project, which has utilized 800,000 Euros to deliver psychotropic medicines to the West Bank and Gaza in 2017-2018.
The WHO Mental Health Project aims to improve mental health services, including access to mental health services during emergencies. In addition to the procurement and delivery of essential medicines, the Palestinian Ministry of Health with WHO has developed a national emergency mental health plan and intervention guidelines, and delivered training to health professionals on the Mental Health Gap Action Programme, as well as training on the provision of psychological first aid to emergency medical teams.