Daily Star - Deal Reached Between Unrwa& Prcs Opens Up Healthcare For Palestinians

By Richard Hall
Daily Star staff

BEIRUT: An agreement signed on Wednesday between the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) will strengthen healthcare for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, and add to the number of facilities where they can receive treatment, the organizations said.
“It’s another step toward our goal. We are doing our utmost to improve the situation for Palestinians in the area,” said director of UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon, Salvatore Lombardo.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society is a humanitarian organization that caters for the health and welfare of the Palestinian people and others in need in the OPT and the diaspora. Lombardo called Wednesday’s agreement “a guarantee of UNRWA’s continued support for the PRCS.”
“We are traditional partners with the PRCS because we share a common mission, which the welfare of Palestinian refugees is at the heart of,” Lombardo said.
The agreement – signed at a ceremony in PRCS-managed Akka Hospital on the southern edge of the Shatila refugee camp – extends the number of hospitals Palestinians can be referred to by the PRCS to receive care, including some private hospitals.
It comes a week after a separate deal was reached with the Health Ministry, giving UNRWA greater financial responsibility for providing healthcare to Palestinian refugees and offering medicines at a reduced cost.
“Last week we signed an agreement with the Ministry of Health, we are contracting additional help around the country with the aim of improving the quality of healthcare for Palestinian refugees,” Lombardo told The Daily Star.
This year UNRWA has already signed agreements with 35 hospitals to allow Palestinians access to their facilities. Of these, 13 are public hospitals, 17 are private, and 5 are managed by the PRCS. All the hospitals are in close proximity to Palestinian gatherings around the country.
The flurry of agreements signed this year by UNRWA signals a growing role for the organization in providing healthcare for Palestinians in Lebanon. In addition to increasing the number of locations at which Palestinians can receive treatment, the services provided at these hospitals has also been increased, according to a statement released by UNRWA.
The deal reached with the Health Ministry means that Palestinians can now receive check-ups, surgeries, and intensive and emergency care in a number of public hospitals.
Until recently, UNRWA and the Health Ministry shared the costs of treatment; the recent agreement between the two stipulates that the ministry will no longer contribute to the costs of treatment, it now being split between UNRWA and the patient. UNRWA covers the full cost of care at PRCS hospitals, and part of the costs at public hospitals.
Lebanon’s Public Health Minister Mohammad Jawad Khalifeh said last week that UNRWA should remain the “sole authority” in coordinating healthcare for Palestinians in Lebanon.
There are 422,188 registered Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, as well as an unknown number of non-registered Palestinians who do not come under UNRWA’s jurisdiction. Late last year, Lombardo said UNRWA was struggling with a “dire” financial crisis but will not cut back on its services.
Lombardo described the general quality of healthcare for Palestinians in Lebanon as “not ideal.”
“Overall we are offering basic care through our primary healthcare centers, but we are not yet delivering the quality of care they deserve. That is our challenge, and that is our concern,” Lombardo said.