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Muslim Charity Supports Palestine Refugees with Insulin Donation

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oPt
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UNRWA
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Muslim Charity contributed US$ 75,000 to enable the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to provide 630 Palestine refugee patients in Gaza with a two-month supply of insulin for the treatment of Type 1 diabetes. An estimated 52,000 Palestine refugees rely on the UNRWA health programme for the treatment of diabetes each year. Without this life saving treatment, these patients are at risk of developing a wide range of debilitating or even life-threatening complications

UNRWA offers primary health care to Palestine refugees from its 22 health centres across the Middle East. These services include, maternal health care, child health care, non-communicable diseases and holistic patient health monitoring through the Agency’s family health team approach.

The Gaza Strip has been marred by repeated rounds of hostilities, a sky -rocketing unemployment rate, electricity supply blackouts and a fifteen-year blockade, restricting the movement of goods and people. This has caused a large-scale dependency on UNRWA services, including health services.

"Palestine refugees have enough suffering; they face many challenges which burden their lives and prevent them from leading a healthy life. It is our role, with the support of donors, to enable them to access health care and take off some of these burdens. Thanks to Muslim Charity for supporting UNRWA with insulin analogues that will provide a two-month supply to 630 Palestine refugees, most of whom are children. This support is expected to enhance the disease control level of these children and gives hope to these children and their families," said Thomas White, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza.

Vice-Chairman of Muslim Charity, Bakhtyar Pirzada, said: “Type 1 diabetes is a serious and lifelong condition for which there is no known cure. Managing type 1 diabetes is very challenging as it impacts every aspect of a person’s life, and if the condition is not managed well, it leads to serious complications and threatens life. This becomes even more difficult and challenging when it is a child who suffers from the condition, and the trauma and burden upon refugees in this situation is unimaginable. The work of UNRWA in this context is very significant and we are delighted to be a partner in this project of providing insulin analogues for 630 patients.”

Thanks to contributions from partners like Muslim Charity, UNRWA continues to provide critical health-care services to Palestine refugees in Gaza and across the Middle East.

Background Information:

UNRWA is confronted with an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support has been outpaced by the growth in needs. As a result, the UNRWA programme budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall. UNRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agency’s programme budget. UNRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large shortfalls, are funded through separate funding portals.

UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5.7 million Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA across its five fields of operation. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. UNRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Sami Mshasha

Director of Communications, Arabic Language Spokesperson

Mobile: +972 (0)54 216 8295

Office: +972 (0)258 90724

Email: s.mshasha@unrwa.org

Tamara Alrifai

UNRWA Spokesperson

Mobile: +962 (0)79 090 0140

Email: T.ALRIFAI@UNRWA.ORG