Objective: Palestinians are exposed to chronic violence, which has a negative impact on health st... more Objective: Palestinians are exposed to chronic violence, which has a negative impact on health status. Health literacy is increasingly employed to increase people＇s control over their health. This qualitative research explored adolescents＇, parents＇ and teachers＇ views regarding important health-related issues to Palestinian adolescents, as a preliminary step to develop a health literacy tool sensitive to the Palestinian social context. Methods: We conducted ₂₂ semi-structured interviews with adolescents, teachers and parents in the Ramallah Governorate between January and February ₂₀₁₇. Sex and locality variations were taken into consideration. Conventional content analysis was used to analyze inter views and retrieve the main categories of healthrelated issues that are important to adolescents. Results: Palestinian adolescents need to access information covering a wider range of health issues including reproductive health, lifestyle, personal hygiene, environmental health and mental health. Some of the adolescents linked violence to health status. Many of the participants identified adolescents＇ willingness to search for health information as a challenge and interviews revealed various health information sources for adolescents. The main sources of health information were mothers, friends, school and the internet among others. Conclusion: Needs are high for Palestinian adolescents to improve their health literacy. Empowering them with health literacy competencies may be vital for alleviating the negative health impact of chronic exposure to violence. A context sensitive health literacy instrument can help conduct new research for understanding predictors of Palestinian adolescent health literacy.
Research on health and human rights is increasing in Japan, but this trend has never been studied... more Research on health and human rights is increasing in Japan, but this trend has never been studied. We thus reviewed health and human rights articles in the Japanese biomedical journal database to reveal the research trend between 1983 and 2002. We found that the number of health and human rights articles in Japan increased substantially from 1994. The range of keywords associated with human rights issues also increased as the number of articles increased.
Objective To examine the moderating role of health literacy in the association between direct exp... more Objective To examine the moderating role of health literacy in the association between direct exposure to violence and weight status among Palestinian adolescents. Design A household cross-sectional study conducted in 2017. Setting A Palestinian district of the West Bank. Participants Palestinian adolescents aged 11-16 years. Results After excluding underweight adolescents from the 1200 who were initially recruited, the data of 1173 adolescents were analysed. A high proportion (62%) of adolescents were directly exposed to violence. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was 6.5% and 17.1%, respectively. The odds of obesity and overweight were 2.8 and 1.8 times higher among adolescents who were not exposed to domestic and school violence when they had low health literacy in the communication subscale. The odds of obesity were 62% and 57% lower among adolescents with high functional health literacy when exposed to domestic and school violence and to any form of violence, respectively. Among adolescents who were not exposed to any form of violence, those who had high health literacy in the communication subscale were 72% less likely to be obese compared with those who had low health literacy. Conclusions Health literacy moderated the association between direct exposure to violence and weight status. When health literacy levels were higher, lower obesity rates were observed among adolescents who were directly exposed to any form of violence or exposed either to political violence only or domestic and school violence only. The results warrant further investigation of the role of health literacy in adolescent health. It is recommended that policy-makers integrate the health literacy concept into both education and health systems.
Health literacy plays an important role in personal and community health. Since university is a t... more Health literacy plays an important role in personal and community health. Since university is a turning point when young adults begin to take responsibility for their own health, understanding university students' health literacy levels is crucial. To this end, we aimed to explore health literacy and its associated factors among Palestinian university students. We conducted a cross-sectional study at Birzeit University in the Ramallah district. We recruited 472 students using convenience sampling at six oncampus cafeterias. The 44-item Arabic version of the Health Literacy Questionnaire was used to measure students' health literacy levels, while a locally developed distress scale was used to measure students' distress levels. We stratified the multiple regression model for the health literacy score by gender. Students' average total health literacy score was 135.3 (SD 20.9), with male students scoring significantly higher than female students. A higher health literacy score was significantly associated with having a father with a higher level of education, a higher frequency of medical checkups, higher self-reported health status, and consulting a higher number of sources for health-related information. High distress levels were associated with lower levels of health literacy, especially among female students. This study provides the first evidence on Palestinian university students' health literacy levels. Tailored health education and promotion are required for students with low parental education and moderate to high distress. Future research is required to explain the gender differences in health literacy and distress among university students.
Background The health system in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) was established as a res... more Background The health system in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) was established as a result of the Oslo Accords in 1993. Since then it has been supported by many donor countries, UN agencies, and international nongovernmental organisations. Higher education for Palestinian students in the health specialty has been supported, especially by Oslo University, and health research, including research to assess the health system, has been encouraged. References cited in reviews indicate an increase in the reports in international medical journals about issues that affect the health of the Palestinian people since the signing of the accord. However, the trend in this increase has not been studied. The aim of this study was to review trends in the reports published about healthrelated issues in Palestinian people between 1940 and 2011. Methods We defined a Palestinian health-related report as one that includes "Palestinian" as a keyword in medical journals. We identified such articles using the Medline database, accessed through PubMed. We gathered the yearly numbers of the publications and then calculated the mean and SD of reports for 1940-66; 1967-86 (third Arab-Israeli war in 1967); 1987-92 (first Palestinian intifada [uprising] in 1987); 1993-99 (Oslo Accords in 1993); 2000-08 (second intifada in 2000); and 2009-11 (The Lancet Series about health in the oPt in 2009). We also recorded the number of reports about Palestinian health-related issues from 1993 to 2011, and did a linear regression analysis to identify the time trend during this period. 95% CIs were used to indicate significance. Findings The mean number of Palestinian health-related reports per year was 0•3 (SD 0•6, range 0-2) during 1940-66, 0•9 (1•0, 0-3) in 1967-86, and 5•3 (3•9, 1-13) in 1987-92. After the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the mean increased to 15•9 (9•3, 2-30) in 1993-99, and was 50•7 (15•0, 33-72) in 2000-08. When The Lancet published the series about health in the oPt (11 reports), the number of reports rose to 92 in 2009 and then fell to 79 in 2010 and 75 in 2011. The trend in the yearly numbers of reports about Palestinian health-related issues between 1993 and 2011 was significantly increased (slope of the time trend curve 4•6, 95% CI 3•8-5•3). Interpretation The number of reports about Palestinian health-related issues increased rapidly after the signing of the Oslo Accords. The highest number of reports was published in 2009, and The Lancet Series was a substantial component. Repeats of the opportunity provided by The Lancet seem likely to encourage research and publication by individuals who have not traditionally had many chances to compete internationally. In this study, we have focused only on the crude numbers of reports. Additional research will help to provide details about the overall publication trend and to assess the focus of the study (health-related issues and target areas and populations) and research institutions involved.
ObjectivesFor adolescents and young adults, most health literacy research has been conducted in W... more ObjectivesFor adolescents and young adults, most health literacy research has been conducted in Western countries, but few studies have been conducted in the Eastern Mediterranean region (EMR). This review aimed to explore the existing health literacy research in the EMR in addition to the levels of health literacy and its associated factors among adolescents and young adults.MethodsThe search, conducted using the PubMed/MEDLINE, EBSCOhost/CINAHL plus, Web of Science and J-STAGE databases, was initially performed on 16 June 2022 and later updated on 1 October 2022. Studies that targeted 10–25 years old persons, conducted in any of the EMR countries and that used the health literacy concept and/or described its levels or predictors were included in the review. Content analysis was used for data extraction and analysis. Data related to the study methods, participants, outcome variables and health literacy were extracted.ResultsThe review included 82 studies, most of which were conduct...
ObjectiveTo examine the moderating role of health literacy in the association between direct expo... more ObjectiveTo examine the moderating role of health literacy in the association between direct exposure to violence and weight status among Palestinian adolescents.DesignA household cross-sectional study conducted in 2017.SettingA Palestinian district of the West Bank.ParticipantsPalestinian adolescents aged 11–16 years.ResultsAfter excluding underweight adolescents from the 1200 who were initially recruited, the data of 1173 adolescents were analysed. A high proportion (62%) of adolescents were directly exposed to violence. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was 6.5% and 17.1%, respectively. The odds of obesity and overweight were 2.8 and 1.8 times higher among adolescents who were not exposed to domestic and school violence when they had low health literacy in the communication subscale. The odds of obesity were 62% and 57% lower among adolescents with high functional health literacy when exposed to domestic and school violence and to any form of violence, respectively. Among ...
Summary Health literacy plays an important role in personal and community health. Since universit... more Summary Health literacy plays an important role in personal and community health. Since university is a turning point when young adults begin to take responsibility for their own health, understanding university students’ health literacy levels is crucial. To this end, we aimed to explore health literacy and its associated factors among Palestinian university students. We conducted a cross-sectional study at Birzeit University in the Ramallah district. We recruited 472 students using convenience sampling at six on-campus cafeterias. The 44-item Arabic version of the Health Literacy Questionnaire was used to measure students’ health literacy levels, while a locally developed distress scale was used to measure students’ distress levels. We stratified the multiple regression model for the health literacy score by gender. Students’ average total health literacy score was 135.3 (SD 20.9), with male students scoring significantly higher than female students. A higher health literacy score...
Health literacy has received wide interest globally in the recent decades. Health literacy is usu... more Health literacy has received wide interest globally in the recent decades. Health literacy is usually defined as "the personal, cognitive and social skills which determine the ability of individuals to gain access to, understand, and use information to promote and maintain good health". In principle, health literacy is considered as an individual resource and asset that provides everyone the ability of decision making regarding healthcare, *1 Department of Community and Global Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Japan *2 Depar tment of Health, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Headquarters Amman, Jordan *3 Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care, Keio University *4 Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University, Birzeit, Palestine Corresponding author: Masamine Jimba Department of Community and Global Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo TEL: +81-3-5841-3698 E-m...
Table 1 Detection of urine trichomoniasis in the general Thai population Urinary trichomoniasis a... more Table 1 Detection of urine trichomoniasis in the general Thai population Urinary trichomoniasis among sexually activeThai females
We investigated the impact of the Palestinians'economic support programmes and the influence of I... more We investigated the impact of the Palestinians'economic support programmes and the influence of Israeli army invasions on the place of birth during the second Palestinian uprising.We collected data on the number of births by place from the Palestinian Ministry of Health and Holy Family Hospital (HFH) in Bethlehem and on Israeli army's invasions into Bethlehem. We then analysed these factors.We see the percentage of births in government hospitals increased after a new health insurance scheme was introduced in 2001.The number of births in HFH decreased during this period. Israeli army invasions also contributed to the decrease of births in HFH during April 2002. However, reducing the charge for delivery at HFH in December 2002 greatly increased the number of births there.We concluded that, in urban Bethlehem, although movement restrictions contributed to the change in the place of birth, economic support programmes have also contributed to offsetting the movement restriction effects.
Background The health system in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) was established as a res... more Background The health system in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) was established as a result of the Oslo Accords in 1993. Since then it has been supported by many donor countries, UN agencies, and international nongovernmental organisations. Higher education for Palestinian students in the health specialty has been supported, especially by Oslo University, and health research, including research to assess the health system, has been encouraged. References cited in reviews indicate an increase in the reports in international medical journals about issues that affect the health of the Palestinian people since the signing of the accord. However, the trend in this increase has not been studied. The aim of this study was to review trends in the reports published about healthrelated issues in Palestinian people between 1940 and 2011. Methods We defined a Palestinian health-related report as one that includes "Palestinian" as a keyword in medical journals. We identified such articles using the Medline database, accessed through PubMed. We gathered the yearly numbers of the publications and then calculated the mean and SD of reports for 1940-66; 1967-86 (third Arab-Israeli war in 1967); 1987-92 (first Palestinian intifada [uprising] in 1987); 1993-99 (Oslo Accords in 1993); 2000-08 (second intifada in 2000); and 2009-11 (The Lancet Series about health in the oPt in 2009). We also recorded the number of reports about Palestinian health-related issues from 1993 to 2011, and did a linear regression analysis to identify the time trend during this period. 95% CIs were used to indicate significance. Findings The mean number of Palestinian health-related reports per year was 0•3 (SD 0•6, range 0-2) during 1940-66, 0•9 (1•0, 0-3) in 1967-86, and 5•3 (3•9, 1-13) in 1987-92. After the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the mean increased to 15•9 (9•3, 2-30) in 1993-99, and was 50•7 (15•0, 33-72) in 2000-08. When The Lancet published the series about health in the oPt (11 reports), the number of reports rose to 92 in 2009 and then fell to 79 in 2010 and 75 in 2011. The trend in the yearly numbers of reports about Palestinian health-related issues between 1993 and 2011 was significantly increased (slope of the time trend curve 4•6, 95% CI 3•8-5•3). Interpretation The number of reports about Palestinian health-related issues increased rapidly after the signing of the Oslo Accords. The highest number of reports was published in 2009, and The Lancet Series was a substantial component. Repeats of the opportunity provided by The Lancet seem likely to encourage research and publication by individuals who have not traditionally had many chances to compete internationally. In this study, we have focused only on the crude numbers of reports. Additional research will help to provide details about the overall publication trend and to assess the focus of the study (health-related issues and target areas and populations) and research institutions involved.
Research on health and human rights is increasing in Japan, but this trend has never been studied... more Research on health and human rights is increasing in Japan, but this trend has never been studied. We thus reviewed health and human rights articles in the Japanese biomedical journal database to reveal the research trend between 1983 and 2002. We found that the number of health and human rights articles in Japan increased substantially from 1994. The range of keywords associated with human rights issues also increased as the number of articles increased.
ObjectivesHealth literacy research in Palestine is limited, and a locally validated tool for use ... more ObjectivesHealth literacy research in Palestine is limited, and a locally validated tool for use among adolescents has been unavailable until now. Therefore, this study aimed to adapt health literacy assessment scale for adolescents (HAS-A) into Arabic language (HAS-A-AR) and Palestinian context and to investigate its psychometric properties.DesignWe conducted a cross-sectional household survey using a stratified random sample and household face-to-face interviews.Setting and participantsWe conducted 1200 interviews with sixth to ninth graders in the Ramallah and al-Bireh district of the West Bank, Palestine in 2017.MethodsWe translated and adapted HAS-A to be sensitive to the Palestinian context and tested its psychometric properties. We evaluated face and content validity during the back-translation process and checked for construct validity through exploratory factor analysis (EFA). We tested for internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha, MacDonald’s omega test and the greatest...
Objective: Palestinians are exposed to chronic violence, which has a negative impact on health st... more Objective: Palestinians are exposed to chronic violence, which has a negative impact on health status. Health literacy is increasingly employed to increase people＇s control over their health. This qualitative research explored adolescents＇, parents＇ and teachers＇ views regarding important health-related issues to Palestinian adolescents, as a preliminary step to develop a health literacy tool sensitive to the Palestinian social context. Methods: We conducted ₂₂ semi-structured interviews with adolescents, teachers and parents in the Ramallah Governorate between January and February ₂₀₁₇. Sex and locality variations were taken into consideration. Conventional content analysis was used to analyze inter views and retrieve the main categories of healthrelated issues that are important to adolescents. Results: Palestinian adolescents need to access information covering a wider range of health issues including reproductive health, lifestyle, personal hygiene, environmental health and mental health. Some of the adolescents linked violence to health status. Many of the participants identified adolescents＇ willingness to search for health information as a challenge and interviews revealed various health information sources for adolescents. The main sources of health information were mothers, friends, school and the internet among others. Conclusion: Needs are high for Palestinian adolescents to improve their health literacy. Empowering them with health literacy competencies may be vital for alleviating the negative health impact of chronic exposure to violence. A context sensitive health literacy instrument can help conduct new research for understanding predictors of Palestinian adolescent health literacy.
Research on health and human rights is increasing in Japan, but this trend has never been studied... more Research on health and human rights is increasing in Japan, but this trend has never been studied. We thus reviewed health and human rights articles in the Japanese biomedical journal database to reveal the research trend between 1983 and 2002. We found that the number of health and human rights articles in Japan increased substantially from 1994. The range of keywords associated with human rights issues also increased as the number of articles increased.
Objective To examine the moderating role of health literacy in the association between direct exp... more Objective To examine the moderating role of health literacy in the association between direct exposure to violence and weight status among Palestinian adolescents. Design A household cross-sectional study conducted in 2017. Setting A Palestinian district of the West Bank. Participants Palestinian adolescents aged 11-16 years. Results After excluding underweight adolescents from the 1200 who were initially recruited, the data of 1173 adolescents were analysed. A high proportion (62%) of adolescents were directly exposed to violence. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was 6.5% and 17.1%, respectively. The odds of obesity and overweight were 2.8 and 1.8 times higher among adolescents who were not exposed to domestic and school violence when they had low health literacy in the communication subscale. The odds of obesity were 62% and 57% lower among adolescents with high functional health literacy when exposed to domestic and school violence and to any form of violence, respectively. Among adolescents who were not exposed to any form of violence, those who had high health literacy in the communication subscale were 72% less likely to be obese compared with those who had low health literacy. Conclusions Health literacy moderated the association between direct exposure to violence and weight status. When health literacy levels were higher, lower obesity rates were observed among adolescents who were directly exposed to any form of violence or exposed either to political violence only or domestic and school violence only. The results warrant further investigation of the role of health literacy in adolescent health. It is recommended that policy-makers integrate the health literacy concept into both education and health systems.
Health literacy plays an important role in personal and community health. Since university is a t... more Health literacy plays an important role in personal and community health. Since university is a turning point when young adults begin to take responsibility for their own health, understanding university students' health literacy levels is crucial. To this end, we aimed to explore health literacy and its associated factors among Palestinian university students. We conducted a cross-sectional study at Birzeit University in the Ramallah district. We recruited 472 students using convenience sampling at six oncampus cafeterias. The 44-item Arabic version of the Health Literacy Questionnaire was used to measure students' health literacy levels, while a locally developed distress scale was used to measure students' distress levels. We stratified the multiple regression model for the health literacy score by gender. Students' average total health literacy score was 135.3 (SD 20.9), with male students scoring significantly higher than female students. A higher health literacy score was significantly associated with having a father with a higher level of education, a higher frequency of medical checkups, higher self-reported health status, and consulting a higher number of sources for health-related information. High distress levels were associated with lower levels of health literacy, especially among female students. This study provides the first evidence on Palestinian university students' health literacy levels. Tailored health education and promotion are required for students with low parental education and moderate to high distress. Future research is required to explain the gender differences in health literacy and distress among university students.
Background The health system in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) was established as a res... more Background The health system in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) was established as a result of the Oslo Accords in 1993. Since then it has been supported by many donor countries, UN agencies, and international nongovernmental organisations. Higher education for Palestinian students in the health specialty has been supported, especially by Oslo University, and health research, including research to assess the health system, has been encouraged. References cited in reviews indicate an increase in the reports in international medical journals about issues that affect the health of the Palestinian people since the signing of the accord. However, the trend in this increase has not been studied. The aim of this study was to review trends in the reports published about healthrelated issues in Palestinian people between 1940 and 2011. Methods We defined a Palestinian health-related report as one that includes "Palestinian" as a keyword in medical journals. We identified such articles using the Medline database, accessed through PubMed. We gathered the yearly numbers of the publications and then calculated the mean and SD of reports for 1940-66; 1967-86 (third Arab-Israeli war in 1967); 1987-92 (first Palestinian intifada [uprising] in 1987); 1993-99 (Oslo Accords in 1993); 2000-08 (second intifada in 2000); and 2009-11 (The Lancet Series about health in the oPt in 2009). We also recorded the number of reports about Palestinian health-related issues from 1993 to 2011, and did a linear regression analysis to identify the time trend during this period. 95% CIs were used to indicate significance. Findings The mean number of Palestinian health-related reports per year was 0•3 (SD 0•6, range 0-2) during 1940-66, 0•9 (1•0, 0-3) in 1967-86, and 5•3 (3•9, 1-13) in 1987-92. After the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the mean increased to 15•9 (9•3, 2-30) in 1993-99, and was 50•7 (15•0, 33-72) in 2000-08. When The Lancet published the series about health in the oPt (11 reports), the number of reports rose to 92 in 2009 and then fell to 79 in 2010 and 75 in 2011. The trend in the yearly numbers of reports about Palestinian health-related issues between 1993 and 2011 was significantly increased (slope of the time trend curve 4•6, 95% CI 3•8-5•3). Interpretation The number of reports about Palestinian health-related issues increased rapidly after the signing of the Oslo Accords. The highest number of reports was published in 2009, and The Lancet Series was a substantial component. Repeats of the opportunity provided by The Lancet seem likely to encourage research and publication by individuals who have not traditionally had many chances to compete internationally. In this study, we have focused only on the crude numbers of reports. Additional research will help to provide details about the overall publication trend and to assess the focus of the study (health-related issues and target areas and populations) and research institutions involved.
ObjectivesFor adolescents and young adults, most health literacy research has been conducted in W... more ObjectivesFor adolescents and young adults, most health literacy research has been conducted in Western countries, but few studies have been conducted in the Eastern Mediterranean region (EMR). This review aimed to explore the existing health literacy research in the EMR in addition to the levels of health literacy and its associated factors among adolescents and young adults.MethodsThe search, conducted using the PubMed/MEDLINE, EBSCOhost/CINAHL plus, Web of Science and J-STAGE databases, was initially performed on 16 June 2022 and later updated on 1 October 2022. Studies that targeted 10–25 years old persons, conducted in any of the EMR countries and that used the health literacy concept and/or described its levels or predictors were included in the review. Content analysis was used for data extraction and analysis. Data related to the study methods, participants, outcome variables and health literacy were extracted.ResultsThe review included 82 studies, most of which were conduct...
ObjectiveTo examine the moderating role of health literacy in the association between direct expo... more ObjectiveTo examine the moderating role of health literacy in the association between direct exposure to violence and weight status among Palestinian adolescents.DesignA household cross-sectional study conducted in 2017.SettingA Palestinian district of the West Bank.ParticipantsPalestinian adolescents aged 11–16 years.ResultsAfter excluding underweight adolescents from the 1200 who were initially recruited, the data of 1173 adolescents were analysed. A high proportion (62%) of adolescents were directly exposed to violence. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was 6.5% and 17.1%, respectively. The odds of obesity and overweight were 2.8 and 1.8 times higher among adolescents who were not exposed to domestic and school violence when they had low health literacy in the communication subscale. The odds of obesity were 62% and 57% lower among adolescents with high functional health literacy when exposed to domestic and school violence and to any form of violence, respectively. Among ...
Summary Health literacy plays an important role in personal and community health. Since universit... more Summary Health literacy plays an important role in personal and community health. Since university is a turning point when young adults begin to take responsibility for their own health, understanding university students’ health literacy levels is crucial. To this end, we aimed to explore health literacy and its associated factors among Palestinian university students. We conducted a cross-sectional study at Birzeit University in the Ramallah district. We recruited 472 students using convenience sampling at six on-campus cafeterias. The 44-item Arabic version of the Health Literacy Questionnaire was used to measure students’ health literacy levels, while a locally developed distress scale was used to measure students’ distress levels. We stratified the multiple regression model for the health literacy score by gender. Students’ average total health literacy score was 135.3 (SD 20.9), with male students scoring significantly higher than female students. A higher health literacy score...
Health literacy has received wide interest globally in the recent decades. Health literacy is usu... more Health literacy has received wide interest globally in the recent decades. Health literacy is usually defined as "the personal, cognitive and social skills which determine the ability of individuals to gain access to, understand, and use information to promote and maintain good health". In principle, health literacy is considered as an individual resource and asset that provides everyone the ability of decision making regarding healthcare, *1 Department of Community and Global Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Japan *2 Depar tment of Health, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Headquarters Amman, Jordan *3 Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care, Keio University *4 Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University, Birzeit, Palestine Corresponding author: Masamine Jimba Department of Community and Global Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo TEL: +81-3-5841-3698 E-m...
Table 1 Detection of urine trichomoniasis in the general Thai population Urinary trichomoniasis a... more Table 1 Detection of urine trichomoniasis in the general Thai population Urinary trichomoniasis among sexually activeThai females
We investigated the impact of the Palestinians'economic support programmes and the influence of I... more We investigated the impact of the Palestinians'economic support programmes and the influence of Israeli army invasions on the place of birth during the second Palestinian uprising.We collected data on the number of births by place from the Palestinian Ministry of Health and Holy Family Hospital (HFH) in Bethlehem and on Israeli army's invasions into Bethlehem. We then analysed these factors.We see the percentage of births in government hospitals increased after a new health insurance scheme was introduced in 2001.The number of births in HFH decreased during this period. Israeli army invasions also contributed to the decrease of births in HFH during April 2002. However, reducing the charge for delivery at HFH in December 2002 greatly increased the number of births there.We concluded that, in urban Bethlehem, although movement restrictions contributed to the change in the place of birth, economic support programmes have also contributed to offsetting the movement restriction effects.
Background The health system in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) was established as a res... more Background The health system in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) was established as a result of the Oslo Accords in 1993. Since then it has been supported by many donor countries, UN agencies, and international nongovernmental organisations. Higher education for Palestinian students in the health specialty has been supported, especially by Oslo University, and health research, including research to assess the health system, has been encouraged. References cited in reviews indicate an increase in the reports in international medical journals about issues that affect the health of the Palestinian people since the signing of the accord. However, the trend in this increase has not been studied. The aim of this study was to review trends in the reports published about healthrelated issues in Palestinian people between 1940 and 2011. Methods We defined a Palestinian health-related report as one that includes "Palestinian" as a keyword in medical journals. We identified such articles using the Medline database, accessed through PubMed. We gathered the yearly numbers of the publications and then calculated the mean and SD of reports for 1940-66; 1967-86 (third Arab-Israeli war in 1967); 1987-92 (first Palestinian intifada [uprising] in 1987); 1993-99 (Oslo Accords in 1993); 2000-08 (second intifada in 2000); and 2009-11 (The Lancet Series about health in the oPt in 2009). We also recorded the number of reports about Palestinian health-related issues from 1993 to 2011, and did a linear regression analysis to identify the time trend during this period. 95% CIs were used to indicate significance. Findings The mean number of Palestinian health-related reports per year was 0•3 (SD 0•6, range 0-2) during 1940-66, 0•9 (1•0, 0-3) in 1967-86, and 5•3 (3•9, 1-13) in 1987-92. After the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the mean increased to 15•9 (9•3, 2-30) in 1993-99, and was 50•7 (15•0, 33-72) in 2000-08. When The Lancet published the series about health in the oPt (11 reports), the number of reports rose to 92 in 2009 and then fell to 79 in 2010 and 75 in 2011. The trend in the yearly numbers of reports about Palestinian health-related issues between 1993 and 2011 was significantly increased (slope of the time trend curve 4•6, 95% CI 3•8-5•3). Interpretation The number of reports about Palestinian health-related issues increased rapidly after the signing of the Oslo Accords. The highest number of reports was published in 2009, and The Lancet Series was a substantial component. Repeats of the opportunity provided by The Lancet seem likely to encourage research and publication by individuals who have not traditionally had many chances to compete internationally. In this study, we have focused only on the crude numbers of reports. Additional research will help to provide details about the overall publication trend and to assess the focus of the study (health-related issues and target areas and populations) and research institutions involved.
Research on health and human rights is increasing in Japan, but this trend has never been studied... more Research on health and human rights is increasing in Japan, but this trend has never been studied. We thus reviewed health and human rights articles in the Japanese biomedical journal database to reveal the research trend between 1983 and 2002. We found that the number of health and human rights articles in Japan increased substantially from 1994. The range of keywords associated with human rights issues also increased as the number of articles increased.
ObjectivesHealth literacy research in Palestine is limited, and a locally validated tool for use ... more ObjectivesHealth literacy research in Palestine is limited, and a locally validated tool for use among adolescents has been unavailable until now. Therefore, this study aimed to adapt health literacy assessment scale for adolescents (HAS-A) into Arabic language (HAS-A-AR) and Palestinian context and to investigate its psychometric properties.DesignWe conducted a cross-sectional household survey using a stratified random sample and household face-to-face interviews.Setting and participantsWe conducted 1200 interviews with sixth to ninth graders in the Ramallah and al-Bireh district of the West Bank, Palestine in 2017.MethodsWe translated and adapted HAS-A to be sensitive to the Palestinian context and tested its psychometric properties. We evaluated face and content validity during the back-translation process and checked for construct validity through exploratory factor analysis (EFA). We tested for internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha, MacDonald’s omega test and the greatest...
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