Palestinian children's health in decline, says report

[Scurrilous]

• Stunted growth among young increasing
• Conditions in territories affecting pregnant women

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"A two-year international investigation has revealed an increase in the number of stunted children in the occupied Palestinian territories and conditions so extreme that Palestinian women have on occasion been forced to give birth at Israeli military checkpoints.

A series of articles published today by the Lancet concludes that the occupation, the recent conflict in Gaza and inter-Palestinian fighting are undermining the health and development of the population. The best solution to health in the territories is peace and security under a sovereign Palestinian state, argue the authors, who are doctors and academics from Birzeit University in Ramallah and Oxford, with assistance from international health scientists, the World Health Organisation and other UN agencies.

Since 2000, Rita Giacaman from Birzeit University and colleagues say, "life for Palestinians has become much harder, more dangerous and less secure". There is evidence that health gains during the 1990s are being eroded.

A humanitarian crisis had emerged in the Gaza Strip, "intensifying as a result of the Israeli military invasion in December 2008 and January 2009, and because of destruction of homes and infrastructure, the death and injury of civilians and shortages of food, fuel, medicines and other essentials", they say."

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Health in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

http://www.thelancet.com/series/health-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory