On Tuesday 13 April 2021, WHO in the occupied Palestinian territory held an online event with the Palestinian Ministry of Health and civil society partners to mark the launch of a year-long campaign towards Building a Fairer, Healthier World. The campaign focuses on addressing the preventable, systematic differences in health outcomes that result from the political, economic, and social conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work and age.

The Minister of Health, Dr Mai Al-Kaila, opened the event outlining how the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and highlighted substantial challenges for the Palestinian health system. She emphasized that violations of the human rights of Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip hinder access to and provision of health care and disproportionately affect certain communities – such as those in Area C of the West Bank and those living close to the separation barrier. Dr Al-Kaila highlighted how unequal access to vaccines for COVID-19 underscores the need for global justice and solidarity, and she welcomed the support provided by WHO and the international community, including through the COVAX initiative. She also thanked civil society health and human rights organizations for their efforts and support in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event was split into three sessions. The first outlined barriers to health due to policies and practices in Area C of the West Bank, with presentations provided by Medicins Du Monde, the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, and Action Against Hunger. Speakers detailed the impact on mental health of precarity and home demolitions; the challenges to mobile clinic access and the substantial health needs of communities in this area; and the barriers to establishment of infrastructure for water and sanitation, essential for livelihoods and for the protection and realization of good health. The second session of the online briefing addressed the impact of severe movement restrictions in the Gaza Strip, focusing on the effect on health of limitations to access for patients, including specifically for women, livelihoods in the Access Restricted Areas close to the Gaza perimeter fence, and food insecurity and poverty. Presentations were delivered by the Culture and Free Thought Association in the Gaza Strip, Première Urgence Internationale, the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. Finally, the event concluded with a presentation by the Palestinian human rights organization Al Haq, which examined how protection and human rights vulnerabilities for Palestinians throughout the occupied Palestinian territory contribute to health challenges and health inequities.

Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative to the occupied Palestinian territory, thanked the Palestinian Ministry of Health and partner organizations and praised the collective efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic in the face of difficult circumstances. He stated, “The central message of the World Health Day campaign this year is that health is a right, not a privilege. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the profound health inequities that exist globally and that are evident for Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. This is exemplified by the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, where it is clear that no one is safe until everyone is safe.” Dr Peeperkorn invited participants to join in collective advocacy efforts for the right to health of Palestinians and wished all a successful World Health Day 2021 campaign towards Building a Fairer, Healthier World.