Zakariah village is among 100 communities or so with about 114,000 residents in Area C* that have limited or no access to primary healthcare services. The geographical, legal and administrative fragmentation of the West Bank creates barriers for them to access health, but these obstacles are particularly severe for those in Area C. Like in Zakariah, many communities rely on mobile health clinics to get primary health care.

A team of two general practitioners, a women’s health specialist and a nurse used to visit Zakariah village twice a month offering free consultations, medication and providing basic health services such as screening for noncommunicable diseases, immunization, women health services, lab analysis and health education.

Now, people from the village only go to the hospital when there is an urgent need, such as for childbirth or in the case of injury. This situation can be particularly worrisome for the elderly, who make up much of Zakariah’s community, with hypertension, diabetes and other chronic diseases that require regular checkups, medical attention and daily medication.

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