April 9 2020, Jerusalem – The World Health Organization today thanked the Austrian Development Cooperation for its €250,000 contribution to support the WHO’s response to COVID-19 in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).
The world is facing an unprecedented challenge with communities and economies everywhere affected by the growing COVID-19 pandemic. In the oPt, a State of Emergency has been effective since March 5.
As of April 7, a total of 261 Palestinians have been confirmed to have COVID-19 in the oPt, 248 in the West Bank and 13 in the Gaza Strip. Of these, one died on 25 March and 42 people have recovered.
Despite the best efforts of local health authorities, the capacity of the Palestinian health system to cope with the expected increase in caseload remains severely impaired by longstanding challenges and critical shortages, particularly in the Gaza Strip.
“We appreciate the quick and generous response by the Austrian Government to provide support and show solidarity at a time when its needed most”, said Dr Gerald Rockenschaub, head of WHO’s office for the occupied Palestinian territory.
“This funding will support WHO and local health authorities to address critical gaps that could undermine the occupied Palestinian territory’s ability to contain and manage the epidemic, including providing the most needed items currently in short supply due to the unprecedented global demand, such as personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and supplies to conduct COVID-19 tests.”
“The spread of COVID-19 puts people living in countries with fragile health care systems especially at risk. It is our responsibility to help make sure that nobody is left behind. We therefore highly welcome WHO’s swift response and are grateful for being able to support the Palestinian authorities in dealing with this unprecedented crisis”, emphasized Astrid Wein, the Austrian Representative in Ramallah.
The funding will strengthen WHO’s efforts in the oPt to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in the oPt and help protect the region’s most vulnerable people from impacts of COVID-19 on already overstretched health systems.
The situation is particularly severe in Gaza, where the health system has been undermined by chronic conflict and blockade, the internal Palestinian political divide, shortages in specialized health staff, drugs and equipment, compounded by electricity cuts impacting hospitals. The strain on Gaza’s health system has been further exacerbated over the past two years due to the high casualty toll from the events surrounding the Great March of Return.
The Austrian Government also released a statement in support of the announcement.
For more information, please contact:
Alice Plate, WHO oPt Communications Specialist,
Katharina Schreiber, Advisor Public Relations, Austrian Development Agency,
