welfare annual report.indd - Welfare - Home - Welfare Association

Health and Nutrition SectorThe Health Sector represented a majorarea for WA programming in 2006 asin other years, with total disbursementsamounting to $5,525,894. Work cameunder three of WA’s main programmatictracks: strengthening institutionalcapacities (50%), effectively respondingto emergency needs (37%) and specialassistance to Palestinians in Lebanon(11%). There was modest health-relatedfunding in a fourth track: development ofhuman resources (2%).Welfare Association has sought to assistthe NGO sector in developing specializedhealth facilities and services, as well as healthservices for the poor and marginalized,which complement without duplicatingpublic sector health care services. Assistancewas given for preventive and primary healthcare, and secondary and tertiary care aswell as the community environment forhealth. Emergency support to the HealthSector addressed acute medical needs of allproviders.Health projects can be classified into4 sub-sectors: Governmental hospitalsand clinics, NGO’s hospitals and clinics,rehabilitation centers and services, and schoolhealth and nutrition.Al-Wafa Medical Rehabilitation HospitalThe majority of the health interventions in2006 supported the governmental hospitals andclinics through improvements in infrastructureand re-supply with needed medical equipment,medications and disposable supplies that couldnot be provided by their existing budgets. Thepublic sector crisis was largely due to the financialshortfall facing the new Palestinian governmentafter the donor boycott and Israel’s denial of taxrevenue transfers. A public sector workers’ strikefurther curtailed services and created increaseddemand for NGO health services, which struggledto meet the population’s needsANNUAL REPORT200626Welfare Association