Palestine is facing a continuous shortage of essential medication, which is estimated to stand at 30% in the majority of governmental hospitals and clinics. This causes unnecessary suffering amongst patients. The shortage may be attributed to that the allocations for medication the Ministry of Health’s budget cover only 70% of the needed funds.
In an effort to reduce the problem, the Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem (ARIJ), the Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (AMAN), and The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH) have launched the “Money4Medicine” campaign, which aims to raise awareness and collect 100,000 signatures from citizens, in order to pressure the official authorities to raise the allocations for medications in the budget of the Ministry of Health.
The “Money4Medicine” campaign was launched with the inception of Palestine International Festival in Ramallah and Gaza, and collected 1200 signature on its first day. With the efforts of a number of volunteers, an information booth was set up to introduce the campaign and its goals to the citizens and to help with signing the petition. The campaign received great interest, especially as it deals with a topic that affects a large spectrum of the Palestinian society, particularly the poor and marginalized.
Project coordinator in ARIJ, Rajaee Abu Karsh, confirmed that there will be many activities and events that will take place throughout the coming months, which aim to acquaint as many citizens as possible with the campaign.
Links to campaign materials:
Campaign website and petition: http://www.money4medicine.ps/
Campaign Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/money4medicine/