The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Over two million Palestine refugees received medical consultation in 2022, says UNRWA
Despite the protracted challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, political instability and funding shortfalls, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has continued to deliver its essential work to provide health care services to Palestine refugees in 2022 across the Agency’s five fields of operation Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza and Syria, it said on Tuesday.
“Last year, we managed to provide medical consultations for eight million persons. Some people came more than once or twice but eight million consultations. That is really great which includes 300,000 people living with diabetes and hypertension or non-communicable diseases and also 90,000 pregnant mothers,” said Dr. Akihiro Seita, UNRWA’s Director of Health.
Out of the 5.9 million registered Palestine refugees, it is estimated that 3.2 million Palestinian refugees are registered at UNRWA Health Centers and receive health services free of charge. The number of consultations increased by 12.4 percent compared to 2021.
In 2022, UNRWA’s health programs successfully combated a resurgence of cholera in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, in addition to the Omicron strain of Covid-19.
Furthermore, UNRWA health centres in Gaza and the occupied West Bank provided vital health care amid hostilities.
“Last week, we had armed conflict in Gaza but still all 22 health centres stayed open and provided critical primary healthcare service and fifty percent of the staff continued to attend,” emphasized Dr. Seita.
Currently, it is estimated that 3.2 million or 53.9 per cent of Palestinian refugees still heavily rely on UNRWA services due to economic hardship, high unemployment rates, and worsening poverty levels, especially in conflict areas. Around one-third of registered Palestinian refugees reside in 58 official refugee camps, living side-by-side among host countries' communities.
UNRWA manages 240 health centers with more than 3,000 staff that provide a comprehensive range of primary health care.
“Gender-based violence is also on the rise. That is our main concern and worry”, said Dr. Seita. “At the same time, children are suffering not only mentally, but also physically. We started to provide mental health care for the children because they were realizing the importance of mental healthcare for the children.”
Mental health is another area of UNRWA’s health priorities. According to Dr. Seita, patients in Gaza have the highest detection rate at 26.4 per cent. In 2021, around 15,000 people needed psychosocial support. However, “in 2022, it has more than doubled – 35,000 people- so that the need for mental health continued to increase and there is no need to explain why”, said Dr. Seita. “If you see the news, how life is in Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Lebanon, Syria and some parts of Jordan- life becomes more difficult.”
Over the span of seven decades of displacement, the number of Palestine refugees has increased from 750,000 in 1950 to 5.9 million in 2022. Throughout these years, UNRWA has been committed to providing quality health services to address the needs of Palestine refugees.
-ends-
STORY: Health Conditions of Palestine Refugees - UNRWA
TRT: 01’43”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
RELEASE DATE: 23 May 2023
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot: UN flag alley UN Geneva.
- Wide shot of podium, conference room, Palais des Nations, Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Akihiro Seita, UNRWA Director of Health: “Last year, we managed to provide medical consultations for 8 million persons. Some people came more than once or twice but 8 million consultations- that is really great which includes 300,000 people living with diabetes and hypertension or non-communicable diseases and also 90,000 pregnant mothers.”
- Medium shot: podium and speakers, with laptop in foreground
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Akihiro Seita, UNRWA Director of Health: “Last week, we had armed conflict in Gaza but still all 22 health centres stayed open and provided critical primary healthcare service and fifty percent of the staff continue to attend”
- Close up: camera
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) ) Akihiro Seita, UNRWA Director of Health: “Gender-based violence is also on the rise. That is our main concern and worry. At the same time, children are suffering not only mentally, but also physically. We started to provide mental health care for the children because they were realizing the importance of mental healthcare for the children.”
- Close up: technician, conference room
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) ) Akihiro Seita, UNRWA Director of Health: “In 2022, it has more than doubled – 35,000 people- so that the need for mental health continued to increase and there is no need to explain why. If you see the news, how life in Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Lebanon, Syria and some parts of Jordan- life becomes more difficult.”
- Wide shot of technician, and podium with UN logo in background
- Close-up: speaker
- Close-up: attendees in the room
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , OHCHR , UNFPA , UNOG , UNHCR , WHO
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis growing by the hour amid spike in displacement
Yemenis displaced by renewed fighting have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, while highlighting the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs in the country and in Djibouti, where thousands have sought shelter.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office issued on Friday a report documenting a shocking pattern of sexual violence amid Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IOM , OHCHR , UN WOMEN , UNFPA , UNHCR , UNOPS , WHO
UN Geneva briefing: Yemen crisis worsens, urgent aid needed across multiple sectors.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC
Press conference on the latest report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the UN Human Rights Council
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OHCHR
Victims Still Waiting: A Global Briefing on Transitional Justice Around the World
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | WMO , OCHA , WHO , UNICEF , UN WOMEN , OHCHR , IOM , UNHCR
Update on Ebola from WHO and OCHA, update on the situation of children with the beginning of school in Ukraine from UNICEF, UN Women on the impact of the settlers and restrictions on women and girls in West Bank, OHCHR on the recovery of extensive human remains in Gaza, IOM and UNHCR on the new wave of displacement in Yemen
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC
Update on the human rights situation in Belarus by the UN Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC , OHCHR
Update on the human rights situation in Syria by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.