Israel to allow entry of children's vaccines in to Palestine

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced yesterday that it had succeeded in pressuring Israeli authorities to allow the entry of children’s vaccines into the occupied Palestinian territories next year.

The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, Assad Ramlawi, confirmed that the ministry will continue to pressure Israel to allow vaccines from the World Health organisation (WHO) and UNICEF into the Palestinian territories.

Earlier this month, Israeli authorities issued a decree barring the Ministry of Health from importing vaccines starting from the beginning of 2019, which put the supply of vaccinations at risk.

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Ramlawi condemned the decision, pointing out that since the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) took office in 1994, there have been no problems with the issue of vaccinations.

Ramlawi pointed out that a lack of vaccination will result in the spread of disease, not only in Palestine, but in the whole of the region, putting millions at risk, particularly children.

According to Israeli laws setup in 1986, vaccines may be imported from only ten countries. However, the ten countries listed do not have an interest in vaccine production and therefore do not have the required certificate from WHO to export, which means that the Palestinian Ministry of Health cannot import from them.

Israel will now not be implementing the law next year.