Back
Full-text
Journal article

Health system's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in conflict settings: Policy reflections from Palestine.

  • AlKhaldi M Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
  • Kaloti R University College London UCL, London, UK.
  • Shella D Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Palestine.
  • Al Basuoni A Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, Gaza, Palestine.
  • Meghari H Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
  • 2020-06-20
Published in:
  • Global public health. - 2020
COVID-19
Health systems
Palestine
conflict settings
Betacoronavirus
Communicable Disease Control
Coronavirus Infections
Health Policy
Humans
Middle East
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral
Politics
Public Health Practice
English As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads, concerns are particularly serious in conflict and humanitarian settings. Tackling the pandemic in those countries is challenging due to the fragility of socioeconomic and health systems. Palestine is one of those countries that is facing compounding challenges, instability, fragility, living conditions, poverty, and mobility, all of which are caused by multifactorial etiology. The Pandemic shows triple tragedies; virus (COVID-19 Pandemic), ongoing Israeli occupation (Politics), and Intra-Palestinian divide (Policies). Yet, Palestine's response to the pandemic is outperforming many countries in the region. The early preventative lockdown measures in the West Bank found effective and not overwhelming the already over-stretched health system. While in the Gaza Strip, the response was slow. Prisoners, labours, besieged people, socioeconomic-disadvantaged classes, and refugees were put at additional high risk. Nonetheless, measures taken were unconsolidated in both regions largely due to the political factors. A little collaboration and inter-agency task forces in preparedness and response was observed, and the mechanisms and governance remain ambiguous. A consolidated and evidence-based nation-wide plan is required, whereby state and non-state actors have a clear and transparent exit strategy. A new thinking approach to promote the public health system and evidence-informed policies in Palestine is an urgent national priority.
Language
  • English
Open access status
bronze
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/231752
Statistics
Document views: 54 File downloads:
  • Full-text: 0