Press Details

• 08 Feb, 2024
• Gaza Health Initiative

The Amman Declaration to Rebuild Health Sector in Gaza

We unequivocally affirm that Gaza civilians—like all civilians—must be protected and cared for during times of war and conflict. Likewise, the people of Gaza should not have their lives and livelihoods destroyed, their health and well-being jeopardized, nor the healthcare and medical services subjugated to destruction, whether intentional or incidental.

The Amman Declaration to Rebuild the Health Sector in Gaza was issued upon the conclusion of the First International Conference to Rebuild Health Sector in Gaza, held in Amman on February 7, 2024, under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein. It highlighted on the ethical obligation to provide the citizens of Gaza with access to health care like the rest of the world.

Dr. Fawzi Al-Hammouri, co-chair of the Gaza Health Initiative and head of the conference program committee, said that the declaration came to emphasize the importance of the sanctity of hospitals and health institutions and the need to protect them, in addition to protecting health sector workers from any form of attack.

Al-Hammouri expressed his gratitude and appreciation to His Majesty the King for patronizing the conference, which gives support to move forward with this initiative, and praising the efforts of all participating humanitarian organizations and institutes.

He explained that the conference is the first step in the rebuilding of the health sector in Gaza, which will include three phases, the urgent and immediate phase will be through providing urgent medical aid, sending medical missions and receiving the complicated wounded cases. The second phase will focus on providing field hospitals with medical staff, and repairing partially damaged hospitals and the third phase is reconstruction of hospitals, infrastructure and universities.

He pointed out that the initiative has begun assessing the damage to the health sector in Gaza to determine the costs necessary to rehabilitate hospitals, health centers, universities and health colleges in Gaza.

The conference was attended by more than 500 participants, in addition to hundreds of remote participants, representing more than 60 humanitarian, health and international organizations from 30 countries, as this conference comes as a first step in the initiative to rebuild the health sector in Gaza, hosted by the Jordanian Medical Association and the Arab American National Medical Association in cooperation with Jordanian professional associations, the Arab Medical Union, the Private Hospitals Association, in addition to Jordanian Arab and international bodies and associations.

The conference included remote interventions, including the Palestinian Minister of Health, the Tunisian Minister of Health, the deputy of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and several hospital directors in Gaza.

It included various sessions in which doctors from Gaza participated (remotely), who spoke about the reality on the ground and the extent of their suffering, and reported the collapse of the health system in Gaza. In addition to hearing testimonies from Jordanian and foreign doctors who had volunteered in Gaza Strip recently to support medical staff, perform surgeries for the injured, and contribute to alleviating the suffering of the Palestinians there.

Dr. Omar Lattouf, Chair of National Arab American Medical Association and the chair of the initiative, expressed his gratitude to His Majesty the King for patronizing this international conference and thanked Her Royal Highness Princess Dina Mired, head of the advisory board of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund.

The head of the Jordanian Engineers Syndicate, Ahmed Samara, presented the preliminary results of hospitals damage assessment carried out by engineers in Gaza Strip and the financial costs needed to repair them.

The conference requested from the international community to stress on ceasefire and stop the aggression on Gaza. And to allow humanitarian and health organizations to enter Gaza to rehabilitate and support the health sector and deliver aid, it is important to end the unjust siege imposed by the Israeli occupation forces on Gaza and to provide all forms of medical support, restore can be saved from health institutions, provide medical equipment, medical supplies and medicines. In addition to avoiding the causes of death caused by the spread of infectious diseases, complications of injuries and the consequences of neglecting patients suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, cancer and others.

It also recommended working to prevent the causes of child mortality by providing human security in terms of medicine and blankets, reactivating the children vaccination program, and working to facilitate the exit of wounded children and those with special needs from Gaza Strip for treatment abroad.

The initiative agreed to start implementing the recommendations of the report on the needs of the health sector in Gaza issued by the initiative at the conclusion of the conference. The implementation will be in cooperation with other organizations and every relevant party in, and the initiative will work to provide opportunities for medical students, especially those in their last year who were unable to complete their studies, and to rehabilitate universities and educational institutions, especially medical colleges and health professions.

The recommendations emphasized granting Palestinians the right to live and decent living within the normal humanitarian conditions that is available for the rest of the world.

Participants in the conference also stressed that rebuilding the health sector needs international partnerships between the public and private sectors and civil society organizations. As an international fund will be established to collect the necessary donations for the rebuilding of the health sector, opening the way for all international organizations, bodies and associations and individuals involved in saving lives, minimizing pain and protecting civilians to participate in this humanitarian initiative.