PCHR Concludes Third Training Course on “Human Rights and Mechanisms to Promote Right to Health”

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) concluded its 3rd training course in 2021 on “Human Rights and Mechanisms to Promote Right to Health”. Twenty-nine male and female students from the Faculty of Medicine at al-Azhar University participated in the 20-hour training course, which was held over the course of 4 days from 01 – 04 February 2021.

These training courses are held under “Promote, Respect, and Fulfill the Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health in the Gaza Strip” project implemented by PCHR in partnership with the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) and funded by the European Union. These training courses target the medical personnel and activists in the Gaza Strip.

The project aims to improve access to healthcare; provide legal counseling and legal assistance to the Palestinian patients; disseminate the culture of human rights and humanitarian law, particularly the right to health, by building the capacities of the medical personnel in the health sector and activists; and to monitor, document and follow up violations of the right to health.

At the end of the course, PCHR held a closing ceremony where Raji Sourani, PCHR’s Director, tackled the importance of holding such training courses in dissemination of human rights concepts in general and the right to heath in particular.  Sourani emphasized that PCHR has attached great importance to training and raising awareness of the Medicine Faculty students in the Palestinian universities to improve their knowledge in human rights, stressing their significant role in the future as doctors in the dissemination and promotion of the right to health.  Sourani added that they will take a lead in disseminating the culture of human rights and applying it to their lives and health sectors through spreading these ethics to improve the health sector in a way that is worthy of the sacrifices of our people.

On behalf of the Faculty’s Administration, Dr. Mohammed Zoghbor, Medicine Faculty’s Dean at al-Azhar University in Gaza, thanked and appreciated PCHR’s efforts to hold this training course.  He said that today, 04 February 2021, marks the World Cancer Day as the patients in Palestine suffer from acute shortage of medicines and medical supplies neceassry for teir treatment at the hospitals due to the Israeli ongoing restrictions, particularly on their freedom of movement, and banning them from traveling to receive their treatment abroad in light of the deterioration of economic conditions in the Palestinian

society.  He concluded that the university aims to sustain and develop its relationship with PCHR in order to establish a society that believes in justice, freedom and equality.

Isma’il Abu Jazar, the Supervisor on PMRS’s Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) Program, emphasized the importance of these training courses in light of the difficult condition facing the health sector and to improve the knowledge and raise awareness of the medical personnel in the field of human rights.

Dr. Mohammed Abu Samrah, Head of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations in Palestine, praised the leading role of PCHR in disseminating the human rights culture as PCHR was mainly behind establishing the Peace and Human Rights Committee under the Federation’s umbrella.  He also appreciated PCHR’s effective contribution in raising the Federation students’ awareness and way to the establishment of this committee.  He also stressed PCHR’s role in helping them to improve their theoretical knowledge and impart scientific and practical skills in human rights.

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