109. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Health Survey in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, 1996: Regional Report Series No. 2: Central West Bank Region. Ramallah 1998: 94 pp.
In Arabic and English.

This report covers the outcome of the Palestinian Health Status Survey in the Central West Bank region. The report consists of four chapters. The first chapter presents the survey objectives and report structure; the second chapter describes the main findings of the survey; the third chapter discusses the methodology used, and the fourth includes an assessment of the survey and data reliability. The main objective of the survey is to provide baseline data on health indicators in the West Bank such as health insurance, smoking, reproductive and child health. This information supports long term planning, surveillance and capacity building within the Central Bureau of Statistics. In the Central West Bank, 12% of the surveyed persons reported to have suffered from an unexpected illness of injury in the two weeks prior to the survey. With respect to health insurance coverage, 66.5% of the people surveyed were covered by some sort of health insurance. The survey results indicated that 23.4% of the population over 14 years of age in the Central West Bank smoke cigarettes, 40.4% among males, and 5.8% among females. About 95% of births in the Central West Bank took place at a health institution, mostly in government hospitals. Breast-feeding was found to be highly prevalent at a rate of 95.7%; 78.5% of ever married women have used some form of contraception, with the IUD being the most commonly used method. The total number of children under five years of age who had a diarrhea episode or a respiratory infection in the two weeks preceding the survey were 13.4% and 26.2%, respectively. The percentage of Central West Bank children under five years of age whose immunization cards were reviewed was 71.8%.