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ARTICLE AD BOX
A year after the start of the conflict, over 70,000 individuals have been recognized as victims of hostile actions, and nearly 13,000 have filed for permanent disability benefits.
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH FEBRUARY 9, 2025 15:25
PROF. NADAV DAVIDOVITCH.
(photo credit: DANI MACHLIS)
Although Israel’s health system has been cited for “demonstrating resilience and functioned at an extremely high level,” there is scant good news in the 24-page healthcare chapter – “Between resilience and continued challenges” – of the State of the Nation Report 2024 just published by Jerusalem’s Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel.
An independent, nonpartisan socioeconomic research institute that provides decision-makers and the public with research and findings on some of the most critical issues in the areas of education, health, welfare, labor markets, and economic policy, it aims to influence the decision-making process and to advance Israelis’ well-being.
Among the bad tidings coming from the Israel-Hamas War is a 200% increase in the use of anti-anxiety medications among residents of the Gaza border communities, compared to a 50% increase in the general population. The smoking rate has also risen.
The number of active physicians and nurses per 1,000 population remains below the OECD average, and the shortage of physicians is expected to worsen further. The long waiting times for specialist care are worst in critical fields like neurology and endocrinology (50 days), compared to orthopedics and gynecology, which recorded the shortest waiting times (20 days).
In addition, there has been a drop in national expenditure alongside increasing reliance on private funding. The number of medical professionals is below the OECD average – only South Korea, Portugal, Greece, Chile, and Mexico rank lower.
The report was researched and written by Prof. Nadav Davidovitch, an epidemiologist and public health physician, head of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s School of Public Health and head of the Association of Public Health Physicians in Israel, of which he is now treasurer. He was assisted by Taub researcher Natan Lev.
A year after the start of the conflict, over 70,000 individuals have been recognized as victims of hostile actions, and nearly 13,000 have filed for permanent disability benefits – the vast majority due to psychological issues. This has come at a heavy economic cost – more than NIS 370 million was paid to people with a recognized disability, and over NIS 250 million was spent on rehabilitation, with a total of NIS 1.2 billion on medical care.
In addition, there has been a decline in the health status of populations particularly affected by the war. A survey of Maccabi Healthcare Services found that 80% of relatives of hostages reported a worsening self-perception of their health status, with significant weight loss and increased use of antidepressants and sleeping medications.
Evacuees also reported deteriorating health conditions, with about 30% of evacuated women reporting poor physical health and 60% reporting psychological harm, compared to 20% and 50% in the general population, respectively.
Trauma among medical staff
Trauma exists among medical staffers as well, Davidovitch told The Jerusalem Post.
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“I was an IDF doctor for 25 years and served during a war with Lebanon, but now doctors’ reserve duty has been very hard, especially with the identification of bodies and body parts from October 7. More medical staffers are taking anti-psychiatric medications. Coexistence in the hospitals and clinics between Jews and Arabs has long been positive, but the war caused many to be afraid of each other; Arabs feared being punished for what they said or wrote, while Jews were worried about suffering from violence. The Hebrew University is conducting simulations for staffers that could help ventilate these problems.”
The war has seen a decline in vaccination rates and a rise in outbreaks of infectious diseases. Potential polio outbreaks in Gaza could pose a threat to Israeli citizens that also necessitates strengthening regional cooperation for vaccination campaigns and clinical and epidemiological monitoring.
Asked whether emigration by doctors because of the government’s incompetence in the last two years has caused longer queues, Davidovitch responded that “nobody knows how many doctors have actually left. Some were already doing post-doctoral research abroad and extended their fellowships. The shortage of nurses is worse even than of specialist physicians. Many of my Israeli and Jewish friends in public health feel uncomfortable abroad, and there is more solidarity with Israel.”
The lack of public funds for health here is “like the horse that performed well as its diet was reduced; then it suddenly dies. The health budget is inadequate. Much blame can be placed with then-finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu two decades ago who canceled the employers’ tax that brought much money into the health system and since then is decided solely by the Treasury.
“Geriatric-care insurance budgets are not sustainable; they will explode under an aging population. Public health and prevention are the first to suffer. The government’s proposed reform of the Israel Medical Association puts its scientific council in danger.”
An excessive share of health system costs is covered by the public that all pay health taxes, instead of the government. In 2023, national health expenditure in current prices totaled NIS 136.3 billion, amounting to 7.2% of GDP, with per-capita expenditure dropping by 3% from 33.9% in 2022 to 34.8% in 2023.
One can only hope for a more optimistic health report next year.
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