There is no NHS or other social care to fall back on in the West Bank when you need urgent medical care to pay hospital fees or medicines. Ongoing medication for chronic conditions can cost 25% of a patient’s annual income and a major operation as much as 5 years’ income. People struggling to pay for the basics have no money left over to pay for healthcare.

We have helped hundreds of Christians through three programmes:

1. We have people calling on our office in Bethlehem every day seeking one-off help. With their local knowledge and working with other partners and agencies, our team assess and verify these applicants to arrive at a list of cases to support each month. Once agreed, they monitor each case with a follow up report. We have segregated a monthly budget of £6,000 solely to cover these urgent cases which on average help 30 people a month. In this way, we help fund a wide range of treatments from operations to remove tumours, investigations and tests through to asthma medication or even buying dentures. 
   
   
2. St Luke’s Hospital Nablus - We contribute to an Exemption Fund, to cover the cost of operations and medicines for the poorest Christian families who do not have enough to pay for treatment. In Nablus, the Christian population makes up less than 1% of the total. Around a quarter of the hospital staff are Christian and many would not be able to find work elsewhere. Therefore, our funding has double the effect – healing Christians in need and employing Christians where there are few other employment opportunities.
   
   
3. The Arab Episcopal Medical Centre in Ramallah – with a focus to improve the health of the local Christian population who are susceptible to a specific condition – diabetes - and support for all the conditions arising from this disease. We provide a fund to the clinic, which provides a significant discount to needy Christians in the local community for ongoing treatment.

Could you help support healthcare?

Even something as everyday as having a baby in hospital costs money. We helped Ahlem with her hospital fees when she had her baby. This would normally have cost around £350, which was beyond her already-stretched budget. Due to our support she was given a discount and only needed to pay £34.

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