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Tony Blair visits 'world class' Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah

Quartet Representative Tony Blair today visited the Palestine Medical Complex (PMC) in Ramallah, the first medical facility to allow Palestinians to undergo complex medical procedures in the West Bank.

Mr Blair praised the work of Palestinian Minister of Health, Fathi Abu Moghli and his staff, saying: “the medical services provided by the Palestinian National Authority are at the same level as services provided in many developed countries.”

Mr Blair also stressed that whatever was happening in the politics, it was important to continue to make changes on the ground to improve the daily lives of Palestinians.

The PMC provides a wide range of services, including neonatal care, maternity care, internal medicine, paediatrics, general surgery, and cardiovascular surgery. In August 2010, the West Bank’s first kidney transplant surgery was performed in the PMC’s surgical hospital.

The PMC was inaugurated by President Abbas on 8 August 2010 as an autonomous secondary and tertiary care public hospital, with its own board and administrative and financial systems. Its establishment is part of a broader Palestinian Authority policy to de-link hospital management from the Ministry of Health and provide Palestinian medical facilities with greater decision-making autonomy.

During yesterday’s visit Minister Abu Moghli thanked Tony Blair for his role in improving the provision of Palestinian medical services in Area C, “by helping to build a number of health clinics – and by providing medicine to these areas.”