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Specialists Gaza children suffer malnutrition

Specialists: Gaza children suffer malnutrition due to the siege

Specialists in child rights and health care stated Tuesday that there is a large percentage of Palestinian children in the impoverished Gaza Strip who suffer from anemia and malnutrition in addition to psychological disorders, calling on health institutions to work as much as possible on reducing the death rates and illnesses among children resulting from the Israeli siege.

During a workshop entitled "The siege and its impacts on the health of children in the Gaza Strip", Hind Faris, the coordinator of child program in the Dhameer foundation for human rights, said that the children in Palestine constitute a high percentage, the thing which made the foundation interested in this category especially after noticing an increase in the diseases among children resulting from malnutrition.

For his part, Dr. Younis Awadallah, the director of the child file in the health ministry, warned that there is a high neonatal death rate which is apt to increase in light of the suffocating Israeli siege.

Dr. Awadallah also pointed out that the lack of fuel led to the shutdown of water pumps which provide potable water, thus reflecting negatively on the health of Gaza children, adding that the Israeli siege and incursions also have psychological impacts on children who live everyday in fear.

For his part, Pierre Clackwin, the head of the UNRWA health program, said that the agency is obliged to enforce children's rights enshrined in international laws, adding that the Palestinian children need more services in order to protect their health.

 * Source: Palestine-Information Centre

MRN