Israel and the Palestinian Authority share the southern Mediterranean coastal aquifer. Long-term overexploitation in the Gaza Strip has resulted in a decreasing water table, accompanied by the degradation of its water quality. Due to high levels of salinity and nitrate and boron pollution, most of the ground water is inadequate for both domestic and agricultural consumption. The rapid rate of p...

On September 2000, the Al Aqsa Itifada erupted. Palestinian children and families have been exposed to a variety of traumatic events, ranging from hearing of killing, to bombardment by helicopters at the entire Gaza Strip. The current conflict differs from the previous Intifada, in which events such as night and day raids were common occurrence in previous Intifada (1987-1993). Shelling and bom...

OBJECTIVE To assess anaemia prevalence and correlated social and biological determinants among pregnant women in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt). DESIGN A cross-sectional survey conducted among pregnant women attending/accessing UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) health centres in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in September and Oc...

OBJECTIVE To assess the contamination level of total and faecal coliforms in water wells and distribution networks, and their association with human health in Gaza Governorate, Gaza Strip. METHODS Data were obtained from the Palestinian Ministry of Health on contamination of total and faecal coliforms in water wells and distribution networks, and on the incidence of water-related diseases in ...

BACKGROUND Diagnosis of intestinal parasites still depends on conventional methods in Gaza strip hospitals and private laboratories. AIM This study aimed to evaluate the opinion and the practice of physicians and medical laboratories technologists towards the diagnosis of intestinal parasites in Gaza strip. SUBJECTS AND METHODS The study was carried out during the period from August 2006 to...

Suicidal attempts in Gaza Strip progressively increased due to bad socio-economical situation. So far, suicidal attempts may be occurred via intentional swelling medical drugs, agrochemicals such as pesticides, industrial chemicals such as detergents and disinfectants, and/or contaminated food. Ingestion of pesticide becomes the easiest way for suicidal attempts. However, ingestion of pesticide...

BACKGROUND The Gaza Strip is a densely populated place with ~2 million inhabitants in an area of 365 km(2). The aim of this study was to determine the smoking prevalence in the Gaza Strip and to identify the perception of the Palestinian population on smoking. METHOD A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian territories, during the period from June to September 2014...

The Gaza Strip faces a chronic solid waste (SW) management and electricity shortage problem as a result of fifty years of political instability in the area coupled with a high population growth rate, an unhealthy economic condition, and limited land and energy resources. The option to develop a waste to energy (WTE) facility to manage SW and to alleviate the electricity shortage has not been pr...

Seven years of monitoring groundwater in the Gaza Strip has shown that nitrate was and still is a major groundwater pollutant. The objectives of this research were to study the distribution of NO(3)(-) in the groundwater of the Gaza Strip and to identify the sources of NO(3)(-) in the Gaza aquifer system by assessing nitrogen and oxygen isotopes. The most recent samples collected in 2007 showed...

BACKGROUND Stunting continues to be a major public health problem in developing countries. It is one of the most important risk factors for morbidity and mortality during childhood. In Palestine, it is another health problem, which adds to the catastrophic issues in the region. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of stunting and its associated factors among preschool children in the Ga...