scholarly journals Antenatal Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation in the State of Palestine: A Protocol for Implementation and Evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 1316-1316
Author(s):  
Masako Horino ◽  
Lina Bahar ◽  
Ayoub Al-Jawaldeh ◽  
Akihiro Seita ◽  
Kristen Hurley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pregnant Women ◽  
West Bank ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
First Trimester ◽  
The State ◽  
Micronutrient Deficiencies ◽  
Public Health Burden ◽  
Multiple Micronutrient ◽  
The Gaza Strip

Abstract Objectives The 2013 Palestinian Micronutrient Survey1 reported high and comparable 1st trimester prevalences of micronutrient deficiencies in the Gaza Strip and West Bank: 23.6% and 21.3% for iron, 67.9% and 49.6% for zinc, 11.4% and 8.8% for vitamin A, 27.9% and 19.1% for B12, 78.6% and 66.7% for vitamin D and 17.5% and 13.2% for vitamin E, respectively. Rates were generally higher among gravida in their 2nd-3rd trimesters. Interim, clinic-based, anemia rates2 in the Gaza Strip and West Bank of 32% and 19% in the first trimester and 71% and 38% in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters, respectively, coupled with food insecurity, dietary inadequacy, civil conflict and stresses from the COVID-19 pandemic, suggest micronutrient deficiencies persist as a public health burden in the State of Palestine. To replace current iron-folic acid (IFA) with a multiple micronutrient supplement (MMS) providing a Recommended Dietary Allowance of 15 essential vitamins and minerals as standard of antenatal care (ANC) in UNWRA clinics and hot spots serving pregnant women in the Gaza (n = 22) in 2021–2 and West Bank (n = 44) in 2022–3. Methods MMS is planned to start in Gaza in the Fall of 2021, where UNRWA antenatal services reach ∼38,000 pregnant women with IFA each year; ∼97% of whom attended ANC ≥ 4 times2. Implementation will follow a randomized, step-wedge procedure whereby MMS will start in the 1st 11 clinics, and six months later, the 2nd group of 11 clinics, providing a design for monitoring and comparing the new MMS to existing IFA programs during an initial 6–8 month period. Results Outcomes will include indicators of adoption, acceptability, coverage, adherence, fidelity, cost-efficiencies and, as a routine clinical outcome, late pregnancy anemia. Conclusions Maternal micronutrient deficiencies are common in Palestine3, meriting replacing IFA with MMS. This research protocol will evaluate implementation in the Gaza Strip to provide guidance for launching and improving antenatal MMS delivery throughout the UNRWA health system. Funding Sources UNWRA, Sight and Life, Kirk Humanitarian, Vitamin Angels Alliance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Palestine Ministry of Health.

scholarly journals Dietary Inadequacy, Micronutrient Deficiencies, and Approaches to Preventing Poor Nutrition in the Gaza Strip

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 503-511
Author(s):  
Masako Horino ◽  
Lina Bahar ◽  
Ghada Al-Jadba ◽  
Rami Habash ◽  
Seita Akihiro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Dietary Intakes ◽  
Micronutrient Deficiencies ◽  
Point Of Use ◽  
Adequate Food ◽  
Multiple Micronutrient ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
Iron Folic Acid ◽  
Multiple Micronutrient Powder

Palestine refugees comprise the largest refugee population in the world, most of whom are encamped in Middle Eastern countries. In the Gaza Strip, where ∼1.4 million Palestinians reside, there are high prevalences of anemia and multiple micronutrient deficiencies (MNDs), including those of iron, zinc, vitamins A, B12, D, and E, ranging from 11.4% to 84.7% among pregnant women and 2.9% to 70.9% among preschool children. Dietary diversification and adequate food fortification are framed in policies but remain aspirational goals. Alternative, effective, targeted preventive approaches include, for women, replacement of antenatal iron-folic acid with multiple micronutrient supplementation, and for young children, point-of-use multiple micronutrient powder fortification to prevent anemia, both of which can reduce other MNDs and may bring additional health benefits. These interventions coupled with monitoring of dietary intakes, periodic assessment of MNDs, and implementation research to improve existing nutrition interventions are warranted to protect the health of the Middle East Palestinian diaspora.

scholarly journals Anaemia among pregnant Palestinian women in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 2416-2420 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Khader ◽  
H Madi ◽  
F Riccardo ◽  
G Sabatinelli
Keyword(s):  
Pregnant Women ◽  
West Bank ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Prevalence Rates ◽  
The West ◽  
Palestinian Women ◽  
Occupied Palestinian Territory ◽  
Health Centres ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
Palestinian Territory

AbstractObjectiveTo assess anaemia prevalence and correlated social and biological determinants among pregnant women in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt).DesignA cross-sectional survey conducted among pregnant women attending/accessing UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) health centres in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in September and October 2006.SettingFifty-five UNRWA health centres in the oPt (eighteen in the Gaza Strip and thirty-seven in the West Bank).SubjectsA random sample of 1740 pregnant women.ResultsOverall anaemia prevalence was 38·6 % (95 % CI 36·3, 40·9 %). A substantial difference in anaemia prevalence was observed between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (44·9 % v. 31·1 %, respectively), as well as a significant increase in anaemia prevalence in the Gaza Strip compared with an Agency-wide survey conducted in 2004 (44·9 % v. 35·7 %, respectively). Anaemia prevalence was found to increase with age, parity and trimester of gestation.ConclusionsAnaemia still appears to be a public health problem among pregnant women in spite of UNRWA interventions. The West Bank shows prevalence rates similar to those observed in neighbouring countries, while the Gaza Strip has higher rates. Prevalence rates of anaemia among pregnant Palestinian women are more than two times higher than those observed in Europe.

scholarly journals The Legality of Closure on Land and Safe Passage Between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-39
Author(s):  
Marco LONGOBARDO
Keyword(s):  
West Bank ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Local Population ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
The West ◽  
Occupied Territory ◽  
The Gaza Strip

Abstract This paper explores the legality of the land closure imposed upon the Gaza Strip by Israel. After having considered the area under occupation, the paper argues that the legality of the closure must be determined under international humanitarian law, international human rights law, the principle of self-determination of peoples, and the Israeli-Palestinian agreements. In the light of these rules, the arbitrary closure of the Gaza Strip should be considered illegal because it breaches the unity between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and because it violates the freedom of movement of the local population. Moreover, the closure breaches the relevant rules pertaining to the transit of goods in occupied territory. The paper concludes that most of the violations caused by the closure affect peremptory rules which produce obligations erga omnes, so that any state in the international community is entitled to react under the law of state responsibility.

Decolonizing Palestine

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Somdeep Sen
Keyword(s):  
West Bank ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Postcolonial Studies ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
The West ◽  
Governing Body ◽  
Legislative Council ◽  
Armed Resistance ◽  
Liberation Movements ◽  
The Gaza Strip

This book rejects the notion that liberation from colonialization exists as a singular moment in history when the colonizer is ousted by the colonized. Instead, it considers the case of the Palestinian struggle for liberation from its settler colonial condition as a complex psychological and empirical mix of the colonial and the postcolonial. Specifically, the book examines the two seemingly contradictory, yet coexistent, anticolonial and postcolonial modes of politics adopted by Hamas following the organization's unexpected victory in the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council election. Despite the expectations of experts, Hamas has persisted as both an armed resistance to Israeli settler colonial rule and as a governing body. Based on ethnographic material collected in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Israel, and Egypt, the book argues that the puzzle Hamas presents is not rooted in predicting the timing or process of its abandonment of either role. The challenge instead lies in explaining how and why it maintains both, and what this implies for the study of liberation movements and postcolonial studies more generally.

Environmental Aspects of the Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area

1994 ◽  
Vol 28 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 374-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moshe Hirsh
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
West Bank ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Basic Fact ◽  
Environmental Resources ◽  
Environmental Aspects ◽  
The West ◽  
The People ◽  
Political Boundaries ◽  
The Gaza Strip

Environmental resources and hazards do not recognize political boundaries. The basic fact that the people of Israel and of the new Palestinian entity in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip share several important natural resources compels the parties to co-operate in the protection of these resources. Neither party is solely able to manage these essential resources (e.g., water) and any attempt to act unilaterally in this sphere might harm the interests of both parties. A quick reading of the Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area (“the Cairo Agreement”) shows that the parties were indeed aware of this, and the agreement includes numerous environmental provisions in various sections.

Socio-economic status and chronic disease in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip: in and outside refugee camps

2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (7) ◽  
pp. 875-882
Author(s):  
Marie Jonassen ◽  
Amira Shaheen ◽  
Mohammed Duraidi ◽  
Khaled Qalalwa ◽  
Bernard Jeune ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Disease ◽  
West Bank ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
The West ◽  
Socio Economic Status ◽  
The Gaza Strip

Gazan Christians: Pilgrimage Permits, Migration, and the Exchange of Precarity

Exchange ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 316-338
Author(s):  
Kenny Schmitt
Keyword(s):  
West Bank ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Geographic Isolation ◽  
The West ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
Life Circumstances ◽  
The Gaza Strip

Abstract This study casts light on the dynamics driving Christian migration from the Gaza Strip and its consequences. By analyzing the historical background and institutionalization of Palestinian movement restrictions—specifically the pilgrimage permit regime—the article explores the temporal and spatial entanglements of pilgrimage, migration, and politics. Since 2007, deteriorating conditions have led Gazan Christians to use temporary pilgrimage permits as a pretext to permanently escape the Strip. The article argues that this migration is driven by the overwhelming precarity of Gazan Christians’ life circumstances, a precarity that includes temporal and spatial, political and economic, religious and personal insecurities. Further, those who escape do not find themselves in a better situation; they experience geographic isolation and communal fragmentation within the West Bank. The process of Gazan Christian migration is best understood as the mere exchange of precarity.

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