Child health professionals around the world are horrified at the ongoing fierce attacks by Israel on the Gaza population which week by week seem to magnify in intensity, with tragic consequences for children who now appear to be subject to deliberate starvation as a result of the refusal by Israel to allow the entry of food aid. And yet the silence of governments around the world as well as the healthcare establishment in deafening, in relation to any real pressure being imposed on Israel through support for arms embargos or sanctions.
UK paediatricians have formed a group called Child Health Advocates for Palestine and have been pressing the RCPCH to advocate for stronger UK government action at this time, and a motion was passed at the recent AGM with a large majority. This was described in a letter just published in the British Medical Journal <http://www.BMJ.com/content/389/BMJ.r741/rapid-responses>.
We call on fellow child health professionals globally to speak with one voice against the unmitigated war on children in Gaza and the West Bank.
Tony Waterston
CHIFA profile: Tony Waterston is a retired consultant paediatrician who worked mainly in the community in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. He spent 6 years working in Zambia and Zimbabwe and directed the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Diploma in Palestinian Child Health teaching programme in the occupied Palestinian territories. He was an Editor of the Journal of Tropical Pediatrics and is on the Executive Committee of the International Society for Social Pediatrics. His academic interests are child poverty, advocacy for child health and children's rights. He was the lead moderator of CHIFA until November 2024. www.chifa.org tony.waterston AT newcastle.ac.uk