Gaza’s health system ‘on its knees’ with almost 70 per cent of hospitals not functioning - WHO
The UN health agency (WHO) warned on Friday that Gaza’s health system is “on its knees”. Due to intense hostilities and limited connectivity, WHO has not received updated data for the past four days on injuries and deaths from the enclave’s ministry of health.
“We know that the health system is on its knees and that currently 65 per cent - that is 47 out of 72 primary care facilities - are not functioning and the ones which are functioning are partly functioning,” reported Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory from Jerusalem, briefing journalists at the United Nations in Geneva. “More than 70 per cent of the hospitals are currently nonfunctioning - 25 out of the 36.”
This situation is clearly insufficient to meet the “endless” needs arising from more than five weeks of Israeli bombardment in response to the 7 October Hamas terror attacks. Active ground operations in Gaza city and near the hospitals, along with the lack of fuel, have halted the movement of rescue teams and ambulances in many areas, UN aid coordination office OCHA reported.
“Before the conflict we talked about 3,500 hospital beds operational in Gaza. And today we talked about an estimated 1,400. The minimum occupancy raised over 150 (per cent). Based on our plans, the needs at the moment will be 5,000 beds,” stressed Dr. Peeperkorn.
The WHO is extremely concerned about the spread of diseases as the rainy season and winter arrive. Overcrowded shelters and the overall lack of water and sanitation across Gaza could increase the risk of transmission.
Since mid-October the Ministry of Health, UNRWA and WHO have recorded “more than 70,000, 72,000 cases of acute respiratory infections, 44,000 cases of diarrhea, 808 cases of chickenpox, 15,000 skin rashes, the scabies, lice, and we also got patients now of hepatitis A,” according to Dr. Peeperkorn.
The WHO reiterated its call for daily sustained, orderly, unimpeded and safe medical evacuations of critically injured and sick patients into Egypt.
“We need a mechanism for medical evacuation. Over the coming months, we will work out that the patients in needs, and that it's not just multiple traumas, it's all kinds of patients which are critical need for evacuation, also think cancer patients which cannot get their treatments,” said Dr. Peeperkorn. “So, there's many other patients which should be prioritized for every medical evacuation into Egypt.”
The WHO also reported on Friday that a mechanism for the entry of fuel into the war-torn Palestinian enclave has reportedly been agreed upon so that urgently needed humanitarian operations can be restored.
“There is a mechanism for the entry of fuel, which would be, I think, the best news of today. And of course, we really hope and plea that this mechanism is being going to be sustained to make sure that humanitarian operation can function, that UNWRA can do its job keeping the operation going.”
WHO remains extremely worried for the safety of patients, health workers and IDPs sheltering not only at Al-Shifa but all other hospitals that are besieged and facing intense hostilities. The UN health agency reminded again that under international humanitarian law health facilities, health workers, ambulances, patients must be safeguarded and protected against all acts of war. International humanitarian law must be respected.
-ends-
STORY Update on Health in Gaza - WHO
TRT: 2:32”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 17 November 2023 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNHCR
DR Congo displacement, health crisis worsens amid dwindling aid access – UN humanitarians
In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a dire displacement crisis is escalating as M23 rebels make headway while aid routes are cut off, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At a press conference in Geneva, Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, presented a report on the human rights violations and abuses related to the protests that took place in Bangladesh between 1 July and 15 August last year. The report is based on a comprehensive investigation undertaken by an interdisciplinary team of investigators from the UN Human Rights Office, including a forensic specialist and weapons expert.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN Human Rights Office today released a comprehensive, in-depth report on the human rights violations and abuses related to the protests that took place in Bangladesh last year, drawing on over 250 interviews with victims, witnesses, medics and senior officials, as well as individual pieces of digital information. The team also received thousands of submissions from individuals in Bangladesh.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNOG
Gaza: a return to war must be avoided at all costs, insists UN chief
A return to war in Gaza must be avoided at all costs, UN Secretary-General António Guterres insisted on Tuesday, amid fears that the three-week old ceasefire agreement between Hamas fighters and Israel is about to end.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday warned of the risk of the violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo escalating throughout the Great Lakes sub-region, following the recent takeover of Goma city by the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
UN human rights chief Volker Türk expressed profound concerns at the ongoing violent escalation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) caused by the ongoing Rwanda-backed M23 offensive. “If nothing is done, the worst may be yet to come, for the people of the eastern DRC, but also beyond the country’s borders,” he told a Special Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNAIDS
US aid funding cuts create confusion, put HIV prevention at risk, says UNAIDS
The US pause in foreign assistance funding has created “a lot of confusion” in community HIV prevention work, despite the waiver issued for HIV/AIDS programmes, the UN agency to combat AIDS (UNAIDS) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNFPA , OCHA , UNOG
UN agencies offered a dire assessment on Tuesday about the global impact of deep cuts to grassroots humanitarian funding by the incoming US administration and reiterated calls for Washington to retain its position as a global aid leader.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
While West Bank camp is destroyed, UNRWA delivers bulk of aid in Gaza
Large swathes of Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank have been completely destroyed following a series of controlled detonations by the Israeli security forces (ISF), the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday raised the alarm about the growing human rights crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the UN bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence and the head of UN Human Rights Myanmar team James Rodehaver, describedunprecedented levels of killing in 2024, four years since the coup.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNRWA
The largest UN agency in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, UNRWA, said on Friday that its staff are still helping the people of Gaza and the West Bank including East Jerusalem who depend on them “for their sheer survival”, a day after the Israeli parliament ban on its activities entered into force.