Cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians in the medical field grows: An increase in the number of Palestinian patients treated in Israel was reported during 2011, according to the Civil Administration annual summary. Approximately 115,000 Palestinian patients were treated, over 100 Palestinian doctors interned at Israeli hospitals, and five organ donations were performed.
Annual summary data shows a 13% increase in the number of Palestinians treated in Israel in comparison to the previous year. "Every year more patients are sent to Israeli hospitals," said Civil Administration Health Coordinator, Mrs. Dalia Bassa.
Additionally, during 2011 five organ transplants saved the lives of Palestinian patients treated in Israeli hospitals. Two of the organs were donated by Israelis. Two operations on pregnant Palestinian women were performed as well at the Hadassa Ein Karem hospital in Jerusalem, saving their babies.
2,000 Palestinian doctors attended conferences and educational programs in Israel and abroad, acquiring professional training. Additionally, 118 Palestinian doctors worked for a year as interns in Israeli hospitals.
"We hope to train Palestinian doctors and improve Palestinian medicine, strengthening cooperation," said Mrs. Bassa. "Health is a separate issue, Israeli and Palestinian doctors are friends, making medicine a bridge for peace."
Civil Administration works to improve the Palestinian medical system. "We hope that the Palestinians will be able to treat their own patients. Treating Palestinian in Israel requires special documentation and burdens the patients' families," explained Mrs. Bassa. "It's important to create a new generation of high-quality doctors that will open great hospitals."
* * *
COGAT - "Whoever saves one life saves the entire world"
The Civil Administration enabled the transfer of a premature Palestinian baby from Bethlehem to Bikur Holim Hospital in Jerusalem.
A premature baby girl, weighing 800 grams, was receiving intensive care at a hospital in Bethlehem when doctors discovered a bowel occlusion requiring emergency surgery.
The two-week old Palestinian baby was transferred from Bethlehem to Bikur Holim Hospital in Jerusalem on Friday, January 13, thanks to the intervention of Dalia Bassa, the Health Department Coordinator in the Civil Administration. Over the course of only a few hours, the Health Department organized the emergency transfer of the baby girl from the West Bank to Israel, and brought in doctors from Hadassah Hospital specifically for the operation, as it was a Friday night.
The Civil Administration covered the entire cost of the operation, the post-operation treatment, and the hospitalization. The total cost amounted to 120 000 NIS. "The baby is now well, and that is what is important," said Dalia Bassa.