PHA-Exch> The Right to Health of the Palestinian Arab Minority in Israel: A Status Report

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Nicholas Lusiani nlusiani at escr-net.org

    Sent from M. Zeidan, General Director, Arab Association for Human Rights
– HRA.

*The Right to Health of the Palestinian Arab Minority in Israel: A Status
Report*

*Introduction*

*The Right to Health is a Human Right*

 Since 2003, the Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA) has periodically
published reports examining different aspects of the discrimination faced by
Palestinian citizens of the State of Israel. In 2009, HRA has decided to
focus on the right to health – an important factor that influences other
human rights and shapes human dignity.

 Economic and social rights form an important component of universal human
rights. These rights, including the right to health, have not been well
received by many governments with a capitalist orientation, which tend to
see these issues as a manifestation of human needs rather than human rights.
This reflects a tendency to avoid granting these rights an obligatory
character and to free the state from the need to invest the resources
required for their realization.

 The right to health is enshrined in numerous international conventions and
declarations. The first reference comes in Article 25(1) of the 1948
Universal Declaration of Human Rights: *“Everyone has the right to a
standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of
his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary
social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment,
sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in
circumstances beyond his control.”*

 The commitment to this right was defined more substantively in the 1966
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: *“The States
Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the
enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health**”
*(Article 12(1)). The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights
established by the United Nations to monitor the implementation of this
covenant later adopted a comment (General Comment 14) extending the meaning
of the right to health beyond medical treatment for the sick. This comment
specifies the conditions in which this right is maintained: availability,
sufficiency, quality, and accessibility – in terms of the absence of
discrimination and in terms of physical and economic access for all:

*“With respect to the right to health, equality of access to health care and
health services has to be emphasized. States have a special obligation to
provide those who do not have sufficient means with the necessary health
insurance and health-care facilities, and to prevent any discrimination on
internationally prohibited grounds in the provision of health care and
health services, especially with respect to the core obligations of the
right to health.”* (Para. 19)

 The opening sentence of the National Health Insurance Law, enacted in
Israel in 1994, states: *“National health insurance in accordance with this
law shall be founded on the principles of justice, equality and mutual
assistance.” *It is now apparent that the enactment of this law has not
succeeded in narrowing gaps in health between the Arab and Jewish
populations. Indeed, in some parameters the gaps have widened still further
(examples include infant mortality rate, life expectancy, morbidity and
mortality, chronic diseases, cancer, etc.) Moreover, the subsequent
legislative development of the law has eroded the social principles on which
founded, such as the need to remove economic and cultural barriers that
prevent optimum access to health services.

 In the current report HRA presents several principles and findings that
emphasize the scale and scope of the discrimination faced by the Palestinian
Arab population in Israel. The following are some examples:

-        There is a proven and close correlation between individual and
collective health and socioeconomic status. Poverty, limited education,
overcrowding, and unemployment all lead to an increase in rates of morbidity
and mortality. The Arab population continues to be poorer than the Jewish
population, with higher unemployment and lower education levels. Gaps in
health remain.

-        The Arab population is young – 42 percent of Arabs are under the
age of fifteen. Accordingly, this population has a heightened need for
health services intended for young people, such as family health centers.

-        Arabs have lower levels of education: 35.3 percent did not attend
high school. The proportion of Arabs in the workforce is low (54.9 percent
in the 25-54 age range).

-        Arabs are poorer than Jews: 61.3 percent of Arab families are below
the poverty line. Government support rescues just ten percent of these
families from poverty.

-        Overcrowding is more prevalent in the Arab population – the average
number of persons per room is 1.43 among Arab citizens and 0.84 among their
Jewish peers.

-        Life expectancy is lower among Arabs and the gap between Arabs and
Jews has widened since 1996.

-        Infant mortality rates among Arabs are twice those among Jews. The
gap has existed since the establishment of the state and has grown over the
years.

-        The general mortality rate is higher among Arabs than among Jews.

-        The main causes of death among Arabs are heart diseases, cancer,
external injury, diabetes, and cerebrovascular diseases.

-        A very rapid increase has been seen in the incidence of lung cancer
and breast cancer among Arabs. Cancer is detected at an advanced stage and
the disease appears at a younger age -both factors that reduce survival
rates.

-        The incidence of diabetes is higher among Arabs and the disease is
less balanced, leading to complications.

-        Arabs report more physical problems that cause them significant or
very significant difficulties in everyday functioning. Arabs suffer more
from chronic back pain, sleep disorders, psychological disorders, and
arthritis.

 These findings, and others presented in the report, illustrate the failure
of Israeli governments to realize their obligations toward the Palestinian
Arab population in Israel. This failure constitutes a gross violation of
Israel’s undertaking to implement international conventions regarding
social, economic and cultural rights – documents that Israel ratified in
1966. These failings also violate official undertakings Israel assumed as
part of its agreements with the European Union, in particular the
association agreement and agreements in the European – Mediterranean
Partnership.

 *Accordingly, the Arab Association for Human Rights urges Israel’s
international partners (and particularly the institutions of the European
Union) to respect their obligation in accordance with these agreements and
to act immediately in order to oblige the Israeli government to meet its
part in these agreements, and to condition the development of political and
economic relations on the full and egalitarian implementation of the
existing agreements.*

Full report text in English:

*
http://arabhra.org/HRA/SecondaryArticles/SecondaryArticlePage.aspx?SecondaryArticle=1743
*

*Full report in Arabic:*

*
http://arabhra.org/HRA/SecondaryArticles/SecondaryArticlePage.aspx?SecondaryArticle=1741
*

* *

Mohammed Zeidan

 Director, Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA)

**

 .

__,_._,___
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://phm.phmovement.org/pipermail/phm-exchange-phmovement.org/attachments/20090228/cbd8bfe8/attachment-0001.html>