The Lancet Series

Health in the Occupied Palestinian Territory - Lancet

"Hope for improving health and quality of life of Palestinians will exist only once people recognize that the structural and political conditions that they endure in the occupied Palestinian territory are the key determinants of population health", states the first report in the Series.

This Series on the health status of 3·8 million people living in the occupied Palestinian territory details one of the most important flashpoints not only in Middle East politics, but for global security. The Lancet report examines aspects of the Palestinian health predicament: health services; maternal and child health; cardiovascular diseases; diabetes and cancer; health and human security; and the future of the healthcare system. The report has been written by a team of health scientists in the occupied Palestinian territory, together with international colleagues from WHO, associated UN agencies, and academic institutions in the USA, UK, Norway, and France.

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

The Palestinian Cleft Society is a group of Palestinian health care practitioners committed to caring for children with clefts and other craniofacial abnormalities. These practitioners primarily live and work in Palestine, but are supported by practitioners from all over the world. Our common goal is to build the infrastructure required to provide world-class care to Palestinian children with any craniofacial anomaly.

PCS is proud to partner with both SmileTrain, Operation Smile, and the Furlow Fund at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Together we can make a difference in the lives of multiple Palestinian children.

pcs goals in the setting of limited resources

Homes inaccessible due to rundown infrastructure, people suffer secondary to limited supplies and a lack of electricity. We are so fortunate that such complexities in daily life are not the norm for us but rather consequences of severe natural forces that challenge our accepted comforts. Yet the reality is that much of the world's population confronts such challenges routinely and of course this has implications on health care quality and access, especially for the most vulnerable populations, women and children. In the context of West Bank and Gaza, where resources are limited and travel is restricted secondary to military-run checkpoints, PCS aims to serve as part of the solution - working hard to provide sustainable and continuous care for children and adults who have complex health conditions.

natural disasters and preparation

In NYC, I stood in a seemingly endless grocery store line in preparation for hurricane Irene. My attempt to buy a flashlight at local convenient stores was futile. Supplies are running out. The city's entire public transportation system closed for the first time in history at noon in order for the carts to be stored safely away from the storm's strong winds. Of course this hurricane poses countless inconveniences and perhaps many unknown dangers, but at least I am living in a context where I have the resources to get by. At times like these, its important to think about those who don't have the protection imbued by urban living and resources.

Furlow Event Dinner Fundraiser - October 17th!

Please purchase your tickets online or make a donation to help support essential surgical care for Palestinian children!

https://medicalfoundationofnc.org/uncfurlowfund

emerging regional public health concerns

While ignoring the orientalist title of this article, I went on to learn about an emerging public health concern in the Middle East. Many of us interested in global health, particularly in the area of infectious disease, have seen the famous HIV prevalence map which shows North Africa to hold a low HIV burden. Researchers have found that perhaps the prevalence of this disease is under-reported and overlooked in the context of North Africa and the Middle East. Indeed, researchers estimate that 5% of men who have sex with men within the region are infected by HIV, and this number will only grow if this population is left unidentified and under-treated.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/08/10/139395327/hiv-in-the-middle-east-and-north-africa-hidden-behind-a-veil

Essential Care

Craniofacial anomalies like cleft lip or palate can be life threatening, affecting basic life functions like feeding and breathing. The incidence of these anomalies is much higher in developing countries, in areas where resources are limited and access to care is scarce. As a result, it's that much more important that support is directed towards developing needed infrastructure. These children deserve a chance to live full lives. If you would like to know how you can help. Please contact me at hala_borno@med.unc.edu

UNHCR launches global campaign for the stateless millions

"GENEVA, August 25 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency today launches a global campaign to promote action against statelessness, a scourge for millions of people worldwide.

"These people are in desperate need of help because they live in a nightmarish legal limbo," High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said. "This makes them some of the most excluded people in the world. Apart from the misery caused to the people themselves, the effect of marginalizing whole groups of people across generations creates great stress in the societies they live in and is sometimes a source of conflict," he added in a message to launch the campaign, which comes ahead of the 50th anniversary on Tuesday of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness." http://www.unhcr.org/4e54f6b36.html

Natural Disaster and Crisis: Lessons Learned about Cleft and Craniofacial Care from Hurricane Katrina and the West Bank.

"Cleft care is generally characterized by staged, carefully timed surgeries and long-term, team-centered follow-up. Acute and chronic crises can wreak havoc on the comprehensive team care required by children with craniofacial anomalies. Additionally, there is evidence that crises, including natural disasters and chronic disruptions, such as political turmoil and poverty, can lead to an increased incidence of craniofacial anomalies. The purpose of this article is to delineate the impact of acute and chronic crises on cleft care. Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., in 2005, resulted in an acute crisis that temporarily disrupted the infrastructure necessary to deliver cleft care; chronic turmoil in the West Bank/Palestine, has resulted in an absence of infrastructure to deliver cleft care. Through these central examples, this paper will illustrate--through the prism of cleft-care--the need for (1) Disaster preparedness for acute crises, (2) Changing needs following acute crises that may lead to persistent chronic disruption, and (3) Emphasize the need for baseline and long-term monitoring of population changes after a disaster has disrupted a health care delivery system."

Cleft Palate Craniofac J. 2011 Jan 29. [Epub ahead of print]

High unemployment blights Palestinian lives, despite economic growth – UN

"The report also contends that the growth recorded in 2010 is not a sign of sustainable recovery, but rather reflects an economy rebounding from a low base.

It shows that the growth has come after a decade-long economic regression and continuing de-industrialization. Concerns about the sustainability of growth arise from observed technological regression and the fact that the 2010 growth relied on substantial donor aid and public expenditure.

Private-sector revival is still constrained by the construction of the separation barrier, movement and access restrictions, limited access to external markets for the export of goods or the import of production inputs, and a much reduced productive and natural resource base."

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=39373&Cr=palestin&Cr1

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Surgical Care in the West Bank

Image 1 shows the surgical team in the West Bank.
Image 2 shows a Palestinian child before and after surgical care from the Palestinian Cleft Society.

PCS sponsored by the Furlow Fund

The Palestinian Cleft Society (PCS) was founded in 2007 to provide free care for Palestinian children with cleft lip and palate, and other congenital craniofacial anomalies. The Cleft Society is made up of Palestinian surgeons, speech therapists, dentists, orthodontists, geneticists, and pediatricians, as well as foreign cleft practitioners who have provided support to the Palestinian practitioners. To date, the Palestinian Cleft Society, in conjunction with the Furlow Fund, has provided free surgery and services to over 600 Palestinian children with craniofacial anomalies.

The Furlow Fund was founded in 2008 and is named after Dr. Leonard Furlow, an internationally recognized craniofacial surgeon, who trained in Plastic Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. All of the money raised by the Furlow Fund will be used to provide free surgery for Palestinian children with craniofacial problems; this includes paying for surgical equipment and supplies, medicines, and feeding bottles, for the UNC-sponsored biannual surgical trips; the money will also provide resources for Palestinian practitioners to further their training.