The findings of a study carried out by the regional health office in Ashkelon and the city's Barzilai Hospital were presented at a recent conference of the American Public Health Association. The study compared statistics gathered at the health clinic in N'vei Dekalim, the largest community in Gush Katif, before the expulsion, and those amassed a few months ago in Nitzan, the largest neighborhood of expelled Gush Katif families. Some 500 families from the former communities of Gush Katif currently live in Nitzan, just north of Ashkelon.
The statistics show that before the expulsion, 1.2% of the residents suffered from high blood pressure, while now the number is close to 2.1%. Heart problems victimized 0.9% of the population before, and now -- 1.7%.
Diabetes is also on the rise, from 1.3% to 1.8%, as are asthma attacks, from 1.25% to 1.7%. Even malignant growths have risen, from 0.6% to nearly 1.1%.
"I see a high rate of psychosomatic disease," Dr. Alon Karni, a doctor in Nitzan, told Nava Stoler of HaTzofeh, "which is no less serious than other sicknesses." He said that his clinic has hired a social worker, and that some patients have not taken the medicines he prescribed "because they don't have enough money."
Though nearly a year and a half has passed since the expulsion, no more than 50 families have a signed agreement with the government regarding permanent homes. Though some families have received part or all of their compensation money, many have received either nothing or just the first payment of 50,000 shekels - money which is eaten up on day-to-day expenses, including rent. Half of the expellees, many of whom were farmers, have not found work.
For more information, click on "www.katifund.org".
The statistics show that before the expulsion, 1.2% of the residents suffered from high blood pressure, while now the number is close to 2.1%. Heart problems victimized 0.9% of the population before, and now -- 1.7%.
Diabetes is also on the rise, from 1.3% to 1.8%, as are asthma attacks, from 1.25% to 1.7%. Even malignant growths have risen, from 0.6% to nearly 1.1%.
"I see a high rate of psychosomatic disease," Dr. Alon Karni, a doctor in Nitzan, told Nava Stoler of HaTzofeh, "which is no less serious than other sicknesses." He said that his clinic has hired a social worker, and that some patients have not taken the medicines he prescribed "because they don't have enough money."
Though nearly a year and a half has passed since the expulsion, no more than 50 families have a signed agreement with the government regarding permanent homes. Though some families have received part or all of their compensation money, many have received either nothing or just the first payment of 50,000 shekels - money which is eaten up on day-to-day expenses, including rent. Half of the expellees, many of whom were farmers, have not found work.
For more information, click on "www.katifund.org".