UNICEF: Delivering health services to isolated West Bank

JBARA, Occupied Palestinian Territory, 26 May 2009 Nestled in a small crook of land, surrounded by the barrier between the West Bank and Israel, sits the community of Jbara, home to nearly 300 people.

Today there is a rush of activity in one of the larger houses. Posters are pinned on clotheslines and a health education session is under way in the garden.

For the first time since the barrier enclosed this community in 2002, UNICEF has been able to arrange a long-awaited visit from health workers. It builds upon work with the Ministry of Health to bring vaccinations and rudimentary care to marginalized and enclosed communities in the West Bank.

Through these visits, UNICEF aims to broaden the range of basic but life-saving child care practices and help mothers living in isolated enclaves.

Read more: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/oPt_49798.html