The Palestinian health care system is extraordinarily complex and fragmented. The Ministry of health (MoH) is operating 413 out of 651 Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities. Other facilities are jointly operated by both MoH and other health  providers including the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) and Palestine Red Crescent Societies (PRCS). 
 
In the Palestinian Health Strategic Plan the MoH states its full support for NGOs, sees them as a complementary element in its own efforts and is willing that NGOs adopt and implement the national guidelines and protocols in the different areas.
 
Historically and with Austrian support PMRS has worked in the field of non-communicable diseases. This center is operated by an NGO with limited capacity and a limited number of the population benefiting is involved. The MoH thus as the main  health provider in the occupied Palestinian territories and the regulatory body has indicated in its strategic health plan 2008-2010 the utmost necessity of establishing a national center of Non-Communicable Diseases that functions as a  national state of the art center, with the required capacity to serve the entire Palestinian population. 
The national NCDs center will operate as a referral, treatment center as well as a national training center for NCDs practitioners in the oPts. The establishment of the center will strengthen the PA capacity in the health sector, and will further  develop the quality of its regulatory role, as well as the service providing role, and thus will contribute to the eventual objective of establishing a strong Palestinian institution for the establishment of a Palestinian state.