Israel took great pains to prepare and equip hospitals in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the possibility of chemical attack during the recent Persian Gulf War, Israel’s minister of health, Ehud Olmert, told the World Health Organization on Friday.
“During the Gulf crisis, more than 1,000 local medical and nursing and ambulance personnel were trained in the principles and practices of chemical injury management,” he said.
Olmert, who heads the Israeli delegation to the U.N. health agency’s annual General Assembly, which opened here May 6, said, “Six hospitals in the territories were designated and prepared for chemical injuries, decontamination and treatment, and were equipped with antidotes, drugs and the necessary medical equipment.”
Although the threat did not materialize, the possibility of poison gas attack and Iraq’s unprovoked aggression forced Israel to reorganize its entire health system.
That resulted in extraordinary economic and social burdens, which have been increased even more by the mass influx of immigrants, the health minister said.
Nevertheless, health care improved steadily in the administered territories, “in spite of the political constraints and the many disturbances in our region,” he said. “Medical personnel from the territories continue to receive advanced training in Israel,” he said.
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