Medical Aid for Palestinians
Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) is a British humanitarian charity committed to meeting the health needs of the Palestinian people. Support for the organization originates from the British public, British Government, European Union and international aid organisations.
Medical Aid for Palestinians was founded in 1984 in the wake of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila Massacre in Lebanon. Today, the group is active in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Lebanon. They deliver basic health and medical care to Palestinian refugees and they strive to establish a permanent medical infrastructure in Palestinian communities by training health care practioners, teaching medical vocational skills and addressing the requirements of of particularly vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities.
Medical Aid for Palestinians offers practical medical support to Palestinians and other victims of conflict and displacement by working with local non-governmental organisations and the Palestinian Health Service on the following priority areas in the Occupied Palestinian Territories:
- Provide health care in isolated rural communities of the West Bank;
- Improve nutrition among refugees in Gaza;
- Contribute to psycho-social support efforts for women and children affected by the conflict;
- Assist people with congenital disabilities and disabilities due to injury.
In the Palestinian refugee camps of Lebanon, Medical Aid for Palestinians works on the following areas:
- Improve environmental health;
- Support primary health care;
- Build capacity to improve income generation;
- Assist people with congenital disabilities and disabilities due to injury.
Medical Aid for Palestinians describes itself as "non-political" and "non-partisan" but this claim is disputed by the NGO Monitor, (published by Israeli Ambassador Dore Gold) due to Medical Aid for Palestinians' alleged involvement "in advocacy on behalf of the Palestinians instead of providing medical care and aid to those in need." See Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) – An EU-funded Political NGO