Israel prevents children and elderly leaving Gaza for medical treatment
Of those denied permits to leave Gaza for medical treatment in the West Bank: a quarter (24%) were for appointments in oncology, 19% for orthopedics, 7% for ophthalmology, 6% for hematology, 6% for cardiology, and 5% for general surgery.
JERUSALEM, (WAFA)
Out of 219 patient applications (133 male; 86 female), or 13% of the total, who were denied in August Israeli permits to leave Gaza through Erez/Beit Hanoun crossing for healthcare in West Bank or East Jerusalem hospitals, 40 were children under 18 years of age and 35 aged 60 years or older, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its monthly reports on health access for Palestinian patients.
It said a quarter (24%) of denied applications were for appointments in oncology, 19% for orthopedics, 7% for ophthalmology, 6% for hematology, 6% for cardiology, and 5% for general surgery.
In addition, 356 patient applications (195 male; 161 female), or 21% of the total, were delayed access to care, receiving no definitive response to their application by the date of their hospital appointment. Of these, 100 applications were for children under the age of 18 and 48 applications were for patients aged 60 years or older.
A third (31%) of those delayed had appointments for oncology, 10% for hematology, 8% for cardiology, 8% for pediatrics, 7% for ophthalmology, 6% for orthopedics, and 6% for internal medicine. The remaining 24% were for 18 other specialties. The majority of delayed applications (259 or 73%) were ‘under study’ at the time of appointment.
There were 1,734 patient applications to cross Erez for healthcare in August. Almost a third (31%) were for children under 18 and 18% were for patients aged 60 years or older, said WHO, adding that 46% of applications were for female patients and 92% were for medical care funded by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Of the total applications, 1,159 (602 male; 557 female), or 69%, were approved — similar to the average approval rate so far in 2019, said the health organization.
Regarding patients companions, there were 1,897 companion permit applications to Israeli authorities in August to cross Erez to accompany patients, including parents or other companions applying to accompany children. Only one companion is allowed to accompany each Gaza patient.
A total of 975 patient companion applications (51% of the total) were approved, 317 applications (17%) were denied and the remaining 605 (32%) were delayed, receiving no definitive response by the time of the patient’s appointment.
