The World Health Organization (WHO) warned this Sunday about the lack of conditions in the Gaza Strip, reiterating that the “overcrowded” space and “lack of food, water, shelter and hygiene” are having a “catastrophic” impact. . in health.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO, speaks of “worrying signs of epidemics and diseases.”
“There are more and more people in smaller and smaller areas. Space is overcrowded, which, together with the lack of food, water, shelter and hygiene, creates the ideal situation for the spread of contagious diseases. There are worrying signs of epidemics and hemorrhages, diseases, as well as diarrhea and respiratory infections, a situation that will worsen with winter,” he says.
Ghebreyesus points out that, on average, there is “one shower for every 700 people and one bathroom for every 150.” The conditions to which Palestinians have been subjected for two months are leaving Gaza’s health system “on its knees and collapsing.”
The WHO meets this Sunday in Geneva, Switzerland, in an extraordinary session to discuss the situation in the Palestinian territories. The meeting was requested by 15 WHO member countries.
Participants will address the situation of the practically collapsed health system in Gaza.
Not counting those who may be under the rubble, the WHO estimates that at least 17,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip since October, including 7,000 children. There are also 46,000 injured, according to the organization’s accounts.
In total, the WHO counts nearly two million survivors, who remain without any condition and at serious risk of contracting diseases.
Before the war, there were 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip. Now there are only 11 left. They welcome patients, but also refugees who have nowhere to go.
According to the WHO, there have been around 500 attacks on facilities and almost two-thirds of hospitals and health centers cannot function.
The situation is aggravated by the great difficulties in receiving humanitarian supplies.
Tedros said that among the 134 U.N. professionals killed in the conflict was at least one WHO employee, 29-year-old Dima Abdullatif Mohammed Alhaj.
“A ceasefire would be the only way to truly protect health in Gaza,” Tedros said, according to the Spanish news agency EFE.
The director general of the WHO highlights that the situation especially affects pregnant women.
“Every day there are more than 180 women in Gaza who give birth alone. There are almost two thousand people undergoing cancer treatments, 350 thousand with diabetes, hypertension or heart diseases. At least 20 thousand civilians suffer from acute psychiatric illnesses and many more They have serious mental disorders because of the war,” he laments.
The organization also describes as “unimaginable” the conditions in which health workers work in Gaza.
More than a hundred professionals have already died, most of whom are on the front line.
On the organization’s 75th anniversary, the general director leaves a call: “Without health there is no peace. Without peace there is no health.”
Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila told the meeting that more than 129,000 cases of respiratory diseases and 55,000 cases of skin diseases had been diagnosed as a result of overcrowding and poor hygiene in Gaza.
“The urgency of the situation is undeniable and we call on humanitarian organizations to take concrete measures to address the effects of this war and prevent further suffering for the people of Gaza,” he said.
Al Kaila called for an “immediate end to the brutal war against Gaza” so that humanitarian aid and medical personnel can “unconditionally enter” the Palestinian enclave of 2.3 million inhabitants.
The Israeli delegation, represented by the UN ambassador in Geneva, Meirav Eilon Shahar, began by criticizing the WHO for holding an extraordinary meeting on this conflict and not on Yemen, Syria and Sudan.
The diplomat accused Hamas of failing to provide medical assistance to the 137 hostages still in its hands and of attempting to attack health facilities on Israeli soil with rockets.
“We recognize the suffering in Gaza, but make no mistake, Hamas is responsible for it,” said Eilon Shahar, who said Israel respects the laws of war and tries to minimize harm to civilians.
“The reality is that we are fighting a terrorist organization that operates from hospitals, schools and UN facilities,” he insisted, stating that Hamas “has been militarizing health facilities for years.”
The diplomat warned that this Sunday’s session of the WHO, in which a resolution on the health situation in Gaza will be voted on, “will only serve to fuel the actions of Hamas.”
“Despite this meeting, we will defeat Hamas, continue to protect our population and bring the hostages home,” he said.
Source: TSF
