ACTION ALERT

Appeal: Support Health Care Projects in Dheisheh Refugee Camp and Bethlehem

October 12, 2006

Ibdaa Health Committee
P.O.Box 793, Bethlehem
West Bank, Palestine
Tel/Fax : 972-2-276-7997
972-2-276-7996
972-2-277-6444
Ibdaa94@yahoo.com
http://www.dheisheh-ibdaa.net

Dear Friends,

The Ibdaa Health Committee (IHC) is currently seeking financial support for its surgery and medication projects. The IHC is an affiliate of the grassroots organization, Ibdaa Cultural Center, which is located at Dheisheh refugee camp in the Palestinian West Bank.

The IHC is a community based, non-partisan, and democratic association comprised of local and international volunteers, including nurses, physicians, psychologists, counselors, social workers and other interested persons. It provides an array of medical and mental health services to adults and children who reside either in Dheisheh Camp or in the Greater
Bethlehem Area.

Local healthcare professionals established the IHC in June, 2003, in response to the urgent needs of the population due to the intensifying Israeli military occupation and the consequent lack of essential medical and mental health services.

The IHC is committed to improving the overall healthcare system for Palestinians. Connecting health with human rights and dignity constitutes one of its core aims.

Through the spirit of voluntarism and teamwork, strengthened by a mobilized grassroots community, the IHC provides critically needed medical and mental health services through education, prevention, treatment, and professional training.

The economic, social and health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories have deteriorated to an unprecedented and alarming level, warning of a dangerous humanitarian catastrophe due to the ongoing economic sanctions and trade embargo imposed by Israel, the United States and other Western nations. The health situation in particular has been seriously
undermined as a result of external funding cuts to the Palestinian Authority (PA), together with Israel's refusal to transfer tax monies collected on behalf of the PA and the freezing of PA accounts by commercial banks. The majority of funds earmarked for health care come from international donors.

The PA employs 57% of all health workers, and provides nearly 65% of the general health needs of the Palestinian population. Its inability to maintain service provision, including the dispensing of medicines, is having a devastating impact on access to healthcare, and is placing an unsustainable burden on non-governmental health care organizations to fill the gap in services. Additionally, the number of people who are no longer able to afford needed medical care due to lack of employment and/or loss of income is alarmingly high. The economic sanctions and trade embargo will no doubt lead to the collapse of the health system, and thousands of patients, some of whose lives are in danger, will not receive treatment.

In light of the burgeoning heath care crisis, the IHC wants to expand its services to help minimize the harmful effects of these sanctions on Palestinian Civil Society.  In particular, the IHC wants to provide surgeries at no or minimal cost, for approximately 100 children and youth in addition to purchasing and distributing critically needed medications to local hospitals and clinics. The IHC has an established record of successfully providing surgical procedures and disseminating medicines to local hospitals.  In 2004, 85 children and youth received surgeries
including ear, nose and throat, emergency general, orthopedic and ophthalmology. This past summer, the IHC disseminated more than $2,000 worth of medicines to Beit Jala Hospital.

The IHC cannot implement this without your financial support! Your support will enable the IHC to offer surgeries such as ear, nose and throat, emergency general surgeries for hernias and other ailments, plastic surgeries for post-burn contractures and congenital problems, orthopedic for congenital or post-trauma related problems and ophthalmology such as squint. Additionally, your support will enable the IHC to continue purchasing and distributing medicines to local hospitals and clinics.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today.  Please make out your check or money order to IHC's U.S fiscal sponsor, Al-Awda, The Palestinian Right to Return Coalition (PRRC), and mail it to: PO Box 131352, Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA. Please note on the memo line of the check that your donation is for the IHC.

To donate online using your credit card, please go to the Al-Awda-PRRC website at http://www.al-awda.org/donate.html. Please indicate that your donation is for the IHC with your submission.

To learn more about the Ibdaa Health Committee please join our listserv by sending us an email at Ibdaa-Health@googlegroups.com and/ or contact our U.S coordinator, Lori Rudolph, at lorir@unm.edu or by cell, 505-550-9553 and/or Talal Shehadeh, Volunteer and Public Relations coordinator at Ibdaa_health@yahoo.com  Thank you.

Sincerely,

The Ibdaa Health Committee