PA ignores treatment requests by 1,720 ill Gazans

Some 1,720 patients in Gaza have received no response to their requests to leave the besieged enclave for treatment since March, according to Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights.

In a statement, the centre reported that it had received complaints from a number of patients who require treatment outside Gaza. The patients claim that they have not received any response to their requests, which they sent to the Medical Referral Directorate which would administer their applications.

Based on the centre’s ongoing monitoring of these cases and according to sources in the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the non-response rate for requests by sick citizens decreased to more than 30 per cent in March and April 2017. The cumulative non-response rate in May reached 50 per cent and has increased to 87 per cent since the beginning of June till now.

According to the centre, since March, patients applying for approval have received no response from the Ministry of Health. This brings the number of patients whose applications have not received a response to more than 1,720.

Read: Israeli NGO warns of worsening health conditions in Gaza

The centre demanded the Palestinian Authority expedite procedures for patients “because time is the difference between life and death for them.”

Therefore, it is crucial to examine the reasons behind this delay, which will adversely affect the health conditions of hundreds of patients, and to bring those who are responsible to account under the law.

It also called for shielding the provision of health care, particularly for patients requiring treatment abroad, away from political conflicts, as well as other humanitarian issues affecting human life.

The centre also called on the international community to respect its legal and moral commitments, and to move quickly and effectively to end the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.