Session: The Health Impacts of War in the Middle East


Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

5130.0: Wednesday, December 14, 2005: 12:30 PM-2:00 PM

Oral

The Health Impacts of War in the Middle East

The purpose of this session is to explore the inseparable linkage between health and civil and human rights. Representatives of Jewish and Palestinian non-governmental organizations and other researchers will present case studies illustrating on-going efforts to advance the movement toward peace and justice in the Middle East through medical, public health, labor, and human rights assistance, educational exchange, and outreach to the U.S. public. Findings from the Jewish American Medical Project (JAMP)-sponsored delegations will be presented. JAMP members work with their counterparts in the Occupied Territories and within Israel, to provide patient care at fixed and mobile clinics in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem; teach at hospitals affiliated with the medical school at Al Quds University; work with labor unions and human rights organizations; and join in efforts seeking environmental justice. A representative of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, a non-governmental organization whose objective is to protect and promote the health of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation, focusing on Primary Health Care and community health, will present recent developments with regard to the Gaza disengagement plan and the erection of the separation wall in the West Bank and its impact on the Palestinian health system. Results from interviews with both health practitioners working in the West Bank and first hand observations will also be presented. The session will explore how human rights and health practitioners can work to improve opportunities for peace through improved health and human rights conditions.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this session participants will: Recognize the linkage between health and human rights; recognize the potential for collaboration in health as a bridge to peace in areas of conflict; describe efforts under way to support the right to health in the occupied Palestinian territories; and identify opportunities for interested health and public health workers to participate in these efforts.

Presider(s):

Alan Meyers, MD, MPH

12:30 PM

Jewish American Medical Project: An effort to promote peace through collaboration in health