An Israeli report sheds light on the poor health conditions in the Arab sector in Israel compared to the Jews, according to the report of the non-governmental "Physicians for Human Rights" association.
The report - which was published by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper and relies on official data from the Ministry of Health - spoke of "large gaps in access to health services between Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel and Jews, even before the Corona crisis."
As an example of this distinction, the report explained that the infant mortality rate among Arabs reached 5.4 per thousand children, compared to 2.4 among Jewish children.
The general death rate per thousand people in the Arab sector was 7.1 among men and 4.9 among women, compared to 5.5 among men and 3.9 among women in the Jewish community, according to the report.
The average life expectancy in the Arab sector in 2018 was 79.5 years, compared to 83.1 among the Jewish population.
The report also sheds light on the gaps between Jews and Arabs in a number of health indicators, as the incidence of diabetes among men in the Arab sector reached 14%, and 14.5 among women, compared to 8.5% among men and 6.8 among women in the Jewish community.
The death rate from diabetes among Arabs was 32% compared to 14% among Jews. In addition, obesity rates among the Arab population were 54% compared to 46% among the Jewish population.
The number of Arab citizens (Muslims and Christians) in Israel reached 1 million 930 thousand, constituting 21% of the population, according to the last official census.
Arabs in Israel are descended from about 154,000 people who did not leave their lands during the Palestinian Nakba in 1948.