BMJ  2008;336:1039 (10 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39574.396088.DB

News

Number of patients from Gaza getting travel permits for medical treatment falls by 90%, says charity

¹ London

Patients are dying in the Gaza Strip because neighbouring governments are preventing them from seeking treatment outside the occupied territory, according to the Israeli medical charity Physicians for Human Rights Israel.

More than 40 patients with cancer and cardiac problems have died in recent months after being refused permission to leave through the Erez crossing by Israel’s military and intelligence services. Permits are often withheld for unspecified "security reasons," even though patients have been accepted for referral by hospitals in Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, or Egypt.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health estimates that about 800 patients of all ages and both sexes currently need to leave Gaza for treatment. Some were previously receiving treatment for cancer outside the Gaza Strip, but their treatment has stopped as the territory has been progressively sealed off since Hamas seized control there last June.

There are theoretically two crossing points through which people . . . [Full text of this article]

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Why no response from Israeli doctors and Medical Association

Christopher J Burns-Cox
bmj.com, 15 May 2008 [Full text]