Urgent Aid Required For Palestinian Health Services: WHO

Warning of an impending health crisis in the Palestinian territory following the recent cut-off in aid by donor countries.

Warning of an impending health crisis in the Palestinian territory following the recent cut-off in aid by donor countries , the UN health agency has called for urgent action by the international community to prevent disruption of basic medical services.

"The crisis is seriously affecting the ability of the Palestinian Ministry of Health to deliver critical health care services and maintain public health programmes," the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

Vital services must be maintained if a humanitarian health crisis is to be averted, it said.

Donors are hesitating to fund the Hamas Government unless it commits to non-violence, recognises Israel and accepts previous agreements and obligations.

Just last Friday, a senior UNRWA official had warned that vital public services are in danger of collapsing if a solution is not found soon.

"We urgently need to get the funding mechanism, promised by the Quartet a month ago, operational now," the Agency's Director of Operations for Gaza John Ging said.

A more elaborate proposal will be developed with partners in the next two weeks, the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) said in its latest update on the situation.

Since the Hamas victory in January elections, Israel has stopped the transfer of Palestinian value added taxes (VAT) and customs taxes which comprise around 50 per cent of the budget of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Source:PTI News