A/HRC/8/17 page 10 19. In regard to the right to food, the cost of the basic food basket in Gaza (wheat flour, rice, pulses, vegetable oil, olive oil, sugar and milk powder) increased by 31 per cent since June 2007.27 A group of British aid organizations reported that, as a result of severe restrictions on the movement of goods and people, food prices were rising and wheat flour, baby milk, and rice, among other essential goods, were increasingly scarce. Some 80 per cent of Gaza Strip’s population was relying on aid assistance, with official unemployment rates close to 40 per cent and set to rise to 50 per cent.28 It should be noted that the right to food is not primarily about food aid; it is rather about being able to feed oneself through an adequate livelihood. 20. The closure on Gaza impacted also on the right to health, negatively affecting access to health care as well as the availability of medicines in the Gaza Strip. According to WHO, should the situation deteriorate further, threats to health such as increased risks of maternal, infant and under-5 deaths, of waterborne disease and of trauma and depression could follow.29 WHO reported that 55 of the 416 essential drugs and 142 of the 596 essential medical supplies were not available in March due to the lack of financial resources.30 21. The closure also impacted on patients’ access to health care outside the Gaza Strip. Following the complicated referral process, in March, four patients died after being denied permits to cross Erez: a 12-month female infant with a liver disease died on 2 March; a 54-year-old male with lung cancer died on 14 March; a 48-year-old male with cardiac problems died on 20 March; and a 58-year-old woman with liver cancer died on 22 March.31 Meanwhile, according to WHO, a total of 257 patients were evacuated through the Rafah border crossing between 1-12 March. 22. Israeli human rights organizations condemned the Israeli security service for its lengthy procedures for issuing permits to cancer and heart patients to receive treatment in Israel or to cross Israel for treatment in Jordan or Egypt. According to Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), from the beginning of April until 21 April, 12 additional cancer patients were prevented from receiving life-saving treatment in Israel.32 In response to the criticism received, the Israeli 27 Ibid. 28 The Gaza Strip: A Humanitarian Implosion, 6 March 2008, Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, Amnesty International, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Médecins du Monde UK, Oxfam, Save the Children UK and Trocaire. 29 WHO, Health Action in Crises at http://www.who.int/hac/. 30 OCHA, Gaza Strip Inter-Agency Humanitarian Fact Sheet, March 2008. 31 Ibid. 32 Physicians for Human Rights, 21 April 2008, at http://www.phr.org.il/phr/article.asp?articleid =566&catid=55&pcat=-1&lang=ENG.