Water crisis is a major environmental problem and day by day, this problem is increasing with the... more Water crisis is a major environmental problem and day by day, this problem is increasing with the rapid growth of industrialization and urbanization in all parts of the world. This paper is an attempt to investigate the water crisis in Gaza strip in Palestine because the water crisis in Gaza continues to worsen as the groundwater becomes increasingly polluted and the political situation delays hope of ''resting'' the Gaza aquifer and finding solutions for proper disposal of sewage and solid waste. The current situation results in diseases and violates the basic human rights of the people of Gaza. However, this study is proposed few strategies to minimize the risk, one of these strategies are secure Palestinian water rights and to strengthen water institutions to be able to govern water effectively and efficiently.
Background: One of the most important parameters that affect the development of adolescents is nu... more Background: One of the most important parameters that affect the development of adolescents is nutrition. Eating practices among adolescents may have long-term impact on their health. Aims: This study aimed to assess whether there is a difference in food intake and physical activity patterns among male and female adolescents (12-19 years old) in the Gaza Strip. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted in April 2016 among 378 adolescent students, 205 males, 173 females. Researchers utilized quantitative and qualitative measures by incorporating a face-to-face interview questionnaire with the adolescents and focus group discussions with parents. Results: Over 55% of participants were eating healthy foods with high frequency; the proportion of boys was greater than that of girls (P < 0.05). Around 45% were eating unhealthy foods with high frequency; here the proportion of girls was greater, but the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). In terms of physical activity pattern, more than half of the adolescents were practicing a sedentary lifestyle, girls statistically significantly more than boys (P < 0.001). No statistically significant sex-based association was found between food intake habits and physical activity pattern. Conclusions: Palestinian adolescents of both sexes in the Gaza Strip are practising unhealthy 1 / 10 WHO EMRO | Does gender influence food intake and physical activity pattern among Palestinian adolesc feeding habits coupled with an apparently highly sedentary lifestyle.
International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences, 2016
Lack of sustainability of water supply and sanitation services are always considered as major iss... more Lack of sustainability of water supply and sanitation services are always considered as major issue in developing countries that accounts for high prevalence of water borne diseases. The aim of this study is to identify the environmental determinants and socio demographic factors of common water borne diseases among people of Al Shuka rural community in the Gaza Strip-Palestine. Cross-sectional study was conducted; the researcher utilized a combination between oraladministrated questionnaire, and observation checklist in addition to a number of some water quality chemical and microbiological parameters were analyzed to assess the quality of drinking water at Al Shuka area. A simple random sample technique was conducted to collect data. The study results concluded that about 34.6% of the study sample has suffered from diarrhea. While 54.8% of the study suffered from other waterborne disease which include dermal, colic and eyes diseases during last two weeks before filling the questionnaire. In term of drinking water quality, this study results demonstrate most of parameters (pH, EC, TDS, Chloride, Nitrate, Total Coliform and Fecal Coliform) were above the WHO standards for drinking water. Furthermore, water borne diseases found to be associated with different environmental factors and personal hygiene. Accordingly, safe and clean water supply should be ensured in order to cover people needs and protect their health. Also, conducting public awareness campaigns and behaviour change towards improving the surrounded environment, personal hygiene, cleanliness and sanitary programs should be ensured mainly in rural and vulnerable area of the Gaza Strip.
There is no conflict of interest among the authors. Abstract This study aims to assess if there i... more There is no conflict of interest among the authors. Abstract This study aims to assess if there is causality relationship between the level of the children perception and practice towards environmental health promotion and the socio-demographic factors in Gaza strip Palestine. The result of the present paper reveals positive shifts with statistical differences in the level of environmental health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours of the experimental children before and after their attendance in the awareness program in favour of the post-test The results showed differences in the level of Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours (KABs) among the experimental children, attributed to socio demographic variables such as (gender, age, type of study children parent's job, monthly income, educational back ground of children's parents, and residential area), with remarkable differences and variations in reaching significantly within all these variables whether in pre or post test was...
International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences, 2014
The present study aims to provide information about the management, segregation, storage and disp... more The present study aims to provide information about the management, segregation, storage and disposal of medical wastes in public as well as private hospitals in Gaza Strip-Palestine. A cross sectional study was employed and simple random sampling technique were used to distribute a semi structured questionnaire among 164 health workers at two hospitals in Gaza Strip with 100 respondents from governmental hospital and 64 respondents from private hospital. The results disclosed that, healthcare facilities whether private and governmental hospitals still suffer from inappropriate biomedical wastes management which have not received sufficient concern according to 60% of participants who pointed out that hazardous and medical wastes are still handled and disposed together with domestic wastes and segregation was applied only for sharp waste which is collected in special sharp boxes at the beginning after usage. Furthermore, around 47% of respondents don't know where medical storage place is, and don't know if there is mark to show place of storage. Besides, 42% of respondents don't know if it's there mean for transferring medical waste, and 43% don't know its type or if it's available always. In the surveyed hospitals, there is deficiency in implementing training courses about healthcare waste management as 23% only of all study subjects had been provided with training on how to deal with medical waste. Therefore, the Ministry of Health and healthcare institutions should give more consideration towards policies for the proper management and disposal of health care wastes in order to develop medical waste management practices in Palestine.
International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences, 2014
Approximately 1.7 million inhabitants of 378 km 2 areaofGazaStripdon'thaveenoughrecreationalareas... more Approximately 1.7 million inhabitants of 378 km 2 areaofGazaStripdon'thaveenoughrecreationalareas,except Gaza beach which suffers from sewage pollution as well as some public and private swimming pools which considered as merely recreational places. The main objective of this study is to assess the microbiological quality of swimming pools water in Gaza Strip to assure its health safety for swimmers. Sampling and analysis were conducted by the Ministry of Health over a period of about four years (2010-2013). Samples were collected from seven central swimming pools in Gaza Strip periodically and examined for Total Coliforms and Faecal Coliforms. In addition, Staphylococcus aureus, Faecal Streptococcus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were isolated from the swimming pools samples with different percentages. Percentages of microbial contamination, concentration of free chlorine and pH level were examined in the studied swimming pools and compared with the international standards and the annual trends were demonstrated. The results show that, about 75% of the recorded data regarding pH level are unacceptable, while 100% of the recorded data about the concentration of free chlorine within the swimming pools are unacceptable. About 57% of the collected samples were contaminated by Total Coliforms, 39% were contaminated by Faecal Coliforms, 46% were contaminated by Staphylococcus aureus, 21% were contaminated by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 18% were contaminated by Faecal streptococci. The annual trends show increase in percentage of contamination to be the worst during the year 2013. Therefore, proper intensive surveillance and water chlorination is needed periodically.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
The Gaza Strip is one of the world’s most fragile states and faces substantial public health and ... more The Gaza Strip is one of the world’s most fragile states and faces substantial public health and development challenges. Climate change is intensifying existing environmental problems, including increased water stress. We provide the first published assessment of climate impacts on diarrhoeal disease in Gaza and project future health burdens under climate change scenarios. Over 1 million acute diarrhoea cases presenting to health facilities during 2009–2020 were linked to weekly temperature and rainfall data and associations assessed using time-series regression analysis employing distributed lag non-linear models (DLNMs). Models were applied to climate projections to estimate future burdens of diarrhoeal disease under 2 °C and 1.5 °C global warming scenarios. There was a significantly raised risk of diarrhoeal disease associated with both mean weekly temperature above 19 °C and total weekly rainfall below 6 mm in children 0–3 years. A heat effect was also present in subjects aged &...
This study aims to assess if there is causality relationship between the level of the children pe... more This study aims to assess if there is causality relationship between the level of the children perception and practice towards environmental health promotion and the socio-demographic factors in Gaza strip Palestine. The result of the present paper reveals positive shifts with statistical differences in the level of environmental health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours of the experimental children before and after their attendance in the awareness program in favour of the post-test The results showed differences in the level of Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours (KABs) among the experimental children, attributed to socio demographic variables such as (gender, age, type of study children parent's job, monthly income, educational back ground of children's parents, and residential area), with remarkable differences and variations in reaching significantly within all these variables whether in pre or post test was prevailed. The present study provides implications and contributes in various theoretical and practical perspectives in comparison with the different literature in the same field
Approximately 1.7 million inhabitants of 378 km2 area of Gaza Strip don’t have enough recreationa... more Approximately 1.7 million inhabitants of 378 km2 area of Gaza Strip don’t have enough recreational areas, except Gaza beach which suffers from sewage pollution as well as some public and private swimming pools which considered as merely recreational places. The main objective of this study is to assess the microbiological quality of swimming pools water in Gaza Strip to assure its health safety for swimmers. Sampling and analysis were conducted by the Ministry of Health over a period of about four years (2010-2013). Samples were collected from seven central swimming pools in Gaza Strip periodically and examined for Total Coliforms and Faecal Coliforms. In addition, Staphylococcus aureus, Faecal Streptococcus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were isolated from the swimming pools samples with different percentages. Percentages of microbial contamination, concentration of free chlorine and pH level were examined in the studied swimming pools and compared with the international standards and the annual trends were demonstrated. The results show that, about 75% of the recorded data regarding pH level are unacceptable, while 100% of the recorded data about the concentration of free chlorine within the swimming pools are unacceptable. About 57% of the collected samples were contaminated by Total Coliforms, 39% were contaminated by Faecal Coliforms, 46% were contaminated by Staphylococcus aureus, 21% were contaminated by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 18% were contaminated by Faecal streptococci. The annual trends show increase in percentage of contamination to be the worst during the year 2013. Therefore, proper intensive surveillance and water chlorination is needed periodically. Keywords: Sanitary conditions, swimming pools, microbiological quality, Gaza Strip, Palestine
Water crisis is a major environmental problem and day by day, this problem is increasing with the... more Water crisis is a major environmental problem and day by day, this problem is increasing with the rapid growth of industrialization and urbanization in all parts of the world. This paper is an attempt to investigate the water crisis in Gaza strip in Palestine because the water crisis in Gaza continues to worsen as the groundwater becomes increasingly polluted and the political situation delays hope of ''resting'' the Gaza aquifer and finding solutions for proper disposal of sewage and solid waste. The current situation results in diseases and violates the basic human rights of the people of Gaza. However, this study is proposed few strategies to minimize the risk, one of these strategies are secure Palestinian water rights and to strengthen water institutions to be able to govern water effectively and efficiently.
Background: One of the most important parameters that affect the development of adolescents is nu... more Background: One of the most important parameters that affect the development of adolescents is nutrition. Eating practices among adolescents may have long-term impact on their health. Aims: This study aimed to assess whether there is a difference in food intake and physical activity patterns among male and female adolescents (12-19 years old) in the Gaza Strip. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted in April 2016 among 378 adolescent students, 205 males, 173 females. Researchers utilized quantitative and qualitative measures by incorporating a face-to-face interview questionnaire with the adolescents and focus group discussions with parents. Results: Over 55% of participants were eating healthy foods with high frequency; the proportion of boys was greater than that of girls (P < 0.05). Around 45% were eating unhealthy foods with high frequency; here the proportion of girls was greater, but the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). In terms of physical activity pattern, more than half of the adolescents were practicing a sedentary lifestyle, girls statistically significantly more than boys (P < 0.001). No statistically significant sex-based association was found between food intake habits and physical activity pattern. Conclusions: Palestinian adolescents of both sexes in the Gaza Strip are practising unhealthy 1 / 10 WHO EMRO | Does gender influence food intake and physical activity pattern among Palestinian adolesc feeding habits coupled with an apparently highly sedentary lifestyle.
International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences, 2016
Lack of sustainability of water supply and sanitation services are always considered as major iss... more Lack of sustainability of water supply and sanitation services are always considered as major issue in developing countries that accounts for high prevalence of water borne diseases. The aim of this study is to identify the environmental determinants and socio demographic factors of common water borne diseases among people of Al Shuka rural community in the Gaza Strip-Palestine. Cross-sectional study was conducted; the researcher utilized a combination between oraladministrated questionnaire, and observation checklist in addition to a number of some water quality chemical and microbiological parameters were analyzed to assess the quality of drinking water at Al Shuka area. A simple random sample technique was conducted to collect data. The study results concluded that about 34.6% of the study sample has suffered from diarrhea. While 54.8% of the study suffered from other waterborne disease which include dermal, colic and eyes diseases during last two weeks before filling the questionnaire. In term of drinking water quality, this study results demonstrate most of parameters (pH, EC, TDS, Chloride, Nitrate, Total Coliform and Fecal Coliform) were above the WHO standards for drinking water. Furthermore, water borne diseases found to be associated with different environmental factors and personal hygiene. Accordingly, safe and clean water supply should be ensured in order to cover people needs and protect their health. Also, conducting public awareness campaigns and behaviour change towards improving the surrounded environment, personal hygiene, cleanliness and sanitary programs should be ensured mainly in rural and vulnerable area of the Gaza Strip.
There is no conflict of interest among the authors. Abstract This study aims to assess if there i... more There is no conflict of interest among the authors. Abstract This study aims to assess if there is causality relationship between the level of the children perception and practice towards environmental health promotion and the socio-demographic factors in Gaza strip Palestine. The result of the present paper reveals positive shifts with statistical differences in the level of environmental health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours of the experimental children before and after their attendance in the awareness program in favour of the post-test The results showed differences in the level of Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours (KABs) among the experimental children, attributed to socio demographic variables such as (gender, age, type of study children parent's job, monthly income, educational back ground of children's parents, and residential area), with remarkable differences and variations in reaching significantly within all these variables whether in pre or post test was...
International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences, 2014
The present study aims to provide information about the management, segregation, storage and disp... more The present study aims to provide information about the management, segregation, storage and disposal of medical wastes in public as well as private hospitals in Gaza Strip-Palestine. A cross sectional study was employed and simple random sampling technique were used to distribute a semi structured questionnaire among 164 health workers at two hospitals in Gaza Strip with 100 respondents from governmental hospital and 64 respondents from private hospital. The results disclosed that, healthcare facilities whether private and governmental hospitals still suffer from inappropriate biomedical wastes management which have not received sufficient concern according to 60% of participants who pointed out that hazardous and medical wastes are still handled and disposed together with domestic wastes and segregation was applied only for sharp waste which is collected in special sharp boxes at the beginning after usage. Furthermore, around 47% of respondents don't know where medical storage place is, and don't know if there is mark to show place of storage. Besides, 42% of respondents don't know if it's there mean for transferring medical waste, and 43% don't know its type or if it's available always. In the surveyed hospitals, there is deficiency in implementing training courses about healthcare waste management as 23% only of all study subjects had been provided with training on how to deal with medical waste. Therefore, the Ministry of Health and healthcare institutions should give more consideration towards policies for the proper management and disposal of health care wastes in order to develop medical waste management practices in Palestine.
International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences, 2014
Approximately 1.7 million inhabitants of 378 km 2 areaofGazaStripdon'thaveenoughrecreationalareas... more Approximately 1.7 million inhabitants of 378 km 2 areaofGazaStripdon'thaveenoughrecreationalareas,except Gaza beach which suffers from sewage pollution as well as some public and private swimming pools which considered as merely recreational places. The main objective of this study is to assess the microbiological quality of swimming pools water in Gaza Strip to assure its health safety for swimmers. Sampling and analysis were conducted by the Ministry of Health over a period of about four years (2010-2013). Samples were collected from seven central swimming pools in Gaza Strip periodically and examined for Total Coliforms and Faecal Coliforms. In addition, Staphylococcus aureus, Faecal Streptococcus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were isolated from the swimming pools samples with different percentages. Percentages of microbial contamination, concentration of free chlorine and pH level were examined in the studied swimming pools and compared with the international standards and the annual trends were demonstrated. The results show that, about 75% of the recorded data regarding pH level are unacceptable, while 100% of the recorded data about the concentration of free chlorine within the swimming pools are unacceptable. About 57% of the collected samples were contaminated by Total Coliforms, 39% were contaminated by Faecal Coliforms, 46% were contaminated by Staphylococcus aureus, 21% were contaminated by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 18% were contaminated by Faecal streptococci. The annual trends show increase in percentage of contamination to be the worst during the year 2013. Therefore, proper intensive surveillance and water chlorination is needed periodically.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
The Gaza Strip is one of the world’s most fragile states and faces substantial public health and ... more The Gaza Strip is one of the world’s most fragile states and faces substantial public health and development challenges. Climate change is intensifying existing environmental problems, including increased water stress. We provide the first published assessment of climate impacts on diarrhoeal disease in Gaza and project future health burdens under climate change scenarios. Over 1 million acute diarrhoea cases presenting to health facilities during 2009–2020 were linked to weekly temperature and rainfall data and associations assessed using time-series regression analysis employing distributed lag non-linear models (DLNMs). Models were applied to climate projections to estimate future burdens of diarrhoeal disease under 2 °C and 1.5 °C global warming scenarios. There was a significantly raised risk of diarrhoeal disease associated with both mean weekly temperature above 19 °C and total weekly rainfall below 6 mm in children 0–3 years. A heat effect was also present in subjects aged &...
This study aims to assess if there is causality relationship between the level of the children pe... more This study aims to assess if there is causality relationship between the level of the children perception and practice towards environmental health promotion and the socio-demographic factors in Gaza strip Palestine. The result of the present paper reveals positive shifts with statistical differences in the level of environmental health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours of the experimental children before and after their attendance in the awareness program in favour of the post-test The results showed differences in the level of Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours (KABs) among the experimental children, attributed to socio demographic variables such as (gender, age, type of study children parent's job, monthly income, educational back ground of children's parents, and residential area), with remarkable differences and variations in reaching significantly within all these variables whether in pre or post test was prevailed. The present study provides implications and contributes in various theoretical and practical perspectives in comparison with the different literature in the same field
Approximately 1.7 million inhabitants of 378 km2 area of Gaza Strip don’t have enough recreationa... more Approximately 1.7 million inhabitants of 378 km2 area of Gaza Strip don’t have enough recreational areas, except Gaza beach which suffers from sewage pollution as well as some public and private swimming pools which considered as merely recreational places. The main objective of this study is to assess the microbiological quality of swimming pools water in Gaza Strip to assure its health safety for swimmers. Sampling and analysis were conducted by the Ministry of Health over a period of about four years (2010-2013). Samples were collected from seven central swimming pools in Gaza Strip periodically and examined for Total Coliforms and Faecal Coliforms. In addition, Staphylococcus aureus, Faecal Streptococcus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were isolated from the swimming pools samples with different percentages. Percentages of microbial contamination, concentration of free chlorine and pH level were examined in the studied swimming pools and compared with the international standards and the annual trends were demonstrated. The results show that, about 75% of the recorded data regarding pH level are unacceptable, while 100% of the recorded data about the concentration of free chlorine within the swimming pools are unacceptable. About 57% of the collected samples were contaminated by Total Coliforms, 39% were contaminated by Faecal Coliforms, 46% were contaminated by Staphylococcus aureus, 21% were contaminated by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 18% were contaminated by Faecal streptococci. The annual trends show increase in percentage of contamination to be the worst during the year 2013. Therefore, proper intensive surveillance and water chlorination is needed periodically. Keywords: Sanitary conditions, swimming pools, microbiological quality, Gaza Strip, Palestine
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Papers by amal khalil
Keywords: Sanitary conditions, swimming pools, microbiological quality, Gaza Strip, Palestine
Keywords: Sanitary conditions, swimming pools, microbiological quality, Gaza Strip, Palestine