In early April 2020, 56-year-old paediatric nurse Awatef Handal was called by her employer Caritas Baby Hospital in Bethlehem in the West Bank to assist with a suspected case of COVID-19, a boy from Hebron district. As the on-call nurse was Awatef’s job to stay with the young boy while he had a test taken for COVID-19. “It was very stressful,...

In 2004, the community of Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip was closed off during a military incursion and pregnant women could not reach hospitals to deliver their babies, until Feeza Shraim and her other volunteer health workers were able to help.Feeza is a midwife from Beit Hanoun with 13 children and 30 years’ experience in nursing and...

April 9 2020, Jerusalem – The World Health Organization today thanked the Austrian Development Cooperation for its €250,000 contribution to support the WHO’s response to COVID-19 in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). The world is facing an unprecedented challenge with communities and economies everywhere affected by the growing COVID-19...

5 March 2020, Gaza Strip - Today the World Health Organization in partnership with the Ministry of Health launched a Limb Reconstruction Centre for Gaza Strip, providing hundreds of Palestinians injured with gunshot wounds, with permanent specialized and centralised care.  Based at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis and generously funded with UK aid, EU...

“Jana is one of hundreds of children who depend on Israeli-issued permits to travel to health facilities outside the Gaza Strip and for accompaniment of their parents.“ Three-year-old Jana from Jabalia in the north of the Gaza Strip has cancer, but she hasn’t been able to access the treatment she needs since October last year. Jana and her...

Below are links to official WHO health advice in Arabic and English on COVID-19 which can be printed, shared and distibuted. Advice for the public Myth busters English Arabic English Arabic Videos Questions and Answers English Arabic EnglishArabic Advice for health workers Guide to addressing social stigma English Arabic English Further...

20 January 2020, Ramallah – Strong political leadership and engagement at a recent health reform workshop in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt), has demonstrated further commitment towards achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC), to enable all Palestinians to access quality health services without financial distress. Despite Palestine’s long...

Huda is a nurse in the cancer outpatient department at Al Rantisi Hospital in Gaza City. She has been working with cancer patients for 15 years.  The work is not easy and cancer departments in Gaza face severe shortages of drugs and supplies, as well as lack of equipment. In November 2019, almost half (48%) of essential drugs stocks were at zero stock in...

WHO obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Nashwa Skaik, who leads the pioneering Early Essential Newborn Care project which assists with 75 per cent of all births in Gaza, has been awarded WHO Director-General’s Award of Excellence for her work. Credit: WHO22 December 2019, Gaza – “Families and in particular, mothers and infants, are the essence of any...

Sabreen is a 28-year-old first responder and team leader of the Nabed Al-Hayat team, working east of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. Sabreen established the independent team on 6 April 2018, soon after the beginning of Gaza’s Great March of Return. Her team of 13 at the start of demonstrations included Abdullah al-Qutati, who was shot and...