Health Links
Current health links projects
The health links group is supporting the Camden clinic, an out-of-hours and emergency clinic which is organised on a rota by Abu Dis doctors from different clinics. The clinic now houses an eye clinic (once a month in cooperation with the Eye Hospital, Jerusalem) and holds blood-donation sessions once a week (in co-operation with Al Muqassed Hospital, Jerusalem).
Click here to go to the Camden Clinic page
We raise money for basic medicines, which unfortunately are needed as the Palestinian economy has suffered so badly both from the Wall and from from the sanctions put on by the West since the Palestinian elections in early 2006. We are planning for health workers' visits from Camden to Abu Dis and from Abu Dis to Camden.
We try to make people in Camden aware of the reasons for these problems and recently put a mock Wall outside a London hospital to show how Abu Dis people are cut off from health care (link to pics from the hospital demo)
Health in Abu Dis
Abu Dis suffers badly from the Wall in every respect but its effect on people's health is dramatic. The hospitals that Abu Dis relies on are in East Jerusalem, and the way to them is now blocked by the Occupation Wall. There is no delivery room for mothers and there was no emergency out-of-hours service until the Camden Clinic opened in 2007.Two small clinics serve a population of roughly 16 or 17 thousand (including the student population at the Al Quds University), and medicine is often in short supply. Doctors have sent us calls for help as the Wall has blocked the way of their patients to hospital and people have been born at and died at checkpoints.
CADFA health links group
Camden Abu Dis Health Links brings together health professionals from across Camden, and works closely with a group of health professionals from Abu Dis who came together in response to CADFA and who welcome our support. If you work in the area of health or if this is your interest, we would be glad to hear from you.
- Getting past the Wall for a blood transfusion
pdf - Camden Clinic Health Day announcement December 07: A day for diabetics, including tests and medicine - important because of the difficulty for people in Abu Dis of getting to hospitals in Jerusalem.
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- "Campaigners' Palestinian Link Plea" [Camden New Journal]
doc - Another checkpoint birth near Abu Dis on Friday 7th September 2007. Wedian Abu Romi from Azariyeh was not allowed through the checkpoint in time to have her baby in hospital, having been kept waiting by the Israeli police, along with her family, when they were asking for permission to pass. Click here and here for more.
- August 07: Doctor humiliated at checkpoint
doc - June 07: Health activities at Camden Clinic, Dar Assadaqa
doc - Powerpoint presentation on Foundation for Al-Quds University Medical School [FQMS]

- Pictures of the new evening and emergency clinic in Abu Dis: the Camden Clinic, opened in April 2007 with the support of Camden Abu Dis Health Links
- Checkpoint birth
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doc - From an Abu Dis doctor...
doc - Musicians at the Music of East & West concert - February 2007
- Thank you letters from two schools
doc - A doctor's story 1
doc - A doctor's story 2
doc - A doctor's story 3
doc - A doctor's story 4
doc - A doctor's story 5
doc - About Shahedah Ahmad Mohsen [in Arabic]
doc - "Our women give birth at Israeli checkpoints.... and the world watches"
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- 30 September 2006 - Health Day at Abu Dis Friendship House - The first open health day at Dar Assadaqa, Abu Dis, was organised jointly by Abu Dis Camden Health Links and Palestinian Medical Relief because of the current problems with the supply of doctors and medicines in Abu Dis**. Two doctors (one of them a child specialist and the other a GP) and several voluntary helpers saw 68 patients. Those that needed it were given free medicine. The open day was such a success that this will be repeated fortnightly. ** Note that the money from Camden sent in the summer by Camden Abu Dis Health Links has been used to provide medicine via the Al-Muqassed Clinic in Abu Dis.
- Foundation for Al-Quds University Medical School
