Village health rooms (VHRs) were established in villages with no on-site health facilities in the Hebron District of the West Bank, beginning in 1985. By 1991, the program served a total population of 40,000 in 49 VHRs and by the end of 1996 covered 69 villages in Hebron and 20 in other districts that were previously served by visiting vaccination teams and nearby clinics. The VHRs provide close contact with the population of mothers for well child and pregnancy care, health education and provide visiting doctor/nurse teams for backup services and supervision. Data on coverage, utilization, costs, and outcome measures are presented. The program is accepted and grows despite adverse social and political conditions.
Between October 1982 and June 1983, 43 patients were identified with symptomatic lead poisoning in three Arab villages of the Nablus district. Because of the clustering of clinical poisoning by household units, investigation was focussed on potential sources common to all members of the households. After excluding water, olive oil and a variety of foodstuff, lead in high concentrations was discovered in locally ground flour in all affected households. The source of poisoning was lead poured into the fissures between the metal housing and the driveshaft of the millstone. Significant lead contamination of freshly ground flour was demonstrated in 23% of the 146 community flour mills operating in West Bank villages. Since the completion of these studies, similar outbreaks of lead poisoning caused by contaminated flour mills have been identified in the Upper Galilee and in Spain. As the methods of milling in the Mediterranean area are similar, a coordinated international effort is needed in order to eliminate this health hazard from countries where similar community stone mills are still in use.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.