Shakhshir Lama, Hammoudeh Weeam
Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University, P.O. Box 14, Birzeit, West Bank, Palestine.
BMC Public Health. 2025 Apr 20;25(1):1459. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-22451-7.
Global unpreparedness was noted, where even high-income countries with their established healthcare systems could not cope with the Covid-19 pandemic. In the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), especially in the Palestinian refugee camps, Covid-19 was an additional burden on multiple levels.
The aim of this study is to understand the notion of Covid-19 responses in the West Bank refugee camps and the health system's ability to meet the needs of the refugees as well as the role of local community actors in the response.
Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews. In total, 27 interviews were conducted with popular committees in camps, professionals working at the Palestinian Ministry of Health in addition to local and international health-related non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Participants were contacted via phone calls, Zoom meetings and in-person, for one to one and a half hours maximum. Questions were about the impact of Covid-19 and the way the participants and their organizations responded to this pandemic.
Our findings state that wide-scale multilevel Covid-19 responses were conducted from different committees and institutions in the OPT. For example, the popular committees took part in distributing medicines, food parcels and hygiene kits, and the NGOs provided refugees with educational materials and psychosocial support. However, the overstretched Palestinian health system, the limited resources in addition to the poor coordination between health providers and poor follow up of the imposed restrictions, hindered the fast and effective response. Community engagement was a remarkable element which contributed to the successful deployment of response plans. This was demonstrated by the collaboration of the camps' local bodies in addition to the initiatives of the local community in camps.
Covid-19 impacts were particularly pronounced for refugees where response efforts did not fulfil their needs. The study highlights the importance of preparedness, working with community organisations and designing interventions in a human-centred/community-centred way to increase the effectiveness of health interventions and responses.
全球都存在准备不足的情况，即使是拥有成熟医疗体系的高收入国家也无法应对新冠疫情。在巴勒斯坦被占领土（OPT），尤其是在巴勒斯坦难民营，新冠疫情在多个层面带来了额外负担。
本研究旨在了解约旦河西岸难民营对新冠疫情的应对观念、卫生系统满足难民需求的能力以及当地社区行为体在应对中的作用。
通过半结构化访谈收集定性数据。总共对难民营的民众委员会、巴勒斯坦卫生部的工作人员以及当地和国际卫生相关非政府组织（NGO）进行了27次访谈。通过电话、Zoom会议和面对面的方式联系参与者，每次访谈最长持续一到一个半小时。问题涉及新冠疫情的影响以及参与者及其组织应对这一疫情的方式。
我们的研究结果表明，OPT的不同委员会和机构开展了大规模的多层次新冠疫情应对措施。例如，民众委员会参与分发药品、食品包裹和卫生用品包，非政府组织为难民提供教育材料和心理社会支持。然而，不堪重负的巴勒斯坦卫生系统、资源有限，以及卫生服务提供者之间协调不力和对实施的限制措施跟进不足，阻碍了快速有效的应对。社区参与是一个显著因素，有助于成功实施应对计划。难民营地方机构的合作以及难民营当地社区的举措都证明了这一点。
新冠疫情对难民影响尤为显著，应对措施未能满足他们的需求。该研究强调了做好准备、与社区组织合作以及以以人为本/以社区为中心的方式设计干预措施以提高卫生干预和应对效果的重要性。
