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Gaza polio outbreak fears: UN health agency ‘extremely worried’ at likely impact
Concerns continue to grow over the impact of a possible polio outbreak in Gaza, amid disastrous sanitary conditions and a lack of access to health care, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
Dr. Ayadil Saparbekov, Team Lead for Health Emergencies at the UN World Health Organization (WHO) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told journalists that he is “extremely worried” about the spread of polio and other communicable diseases, which could lead to more people dying of preventable illness than from war-related injuries.
Hepatitis A was already confirmed last year in the Strip, he told journalists, via video link from Jerusalem.
“With the crippled health system, lack of water and sanitation, as well as lack of access of the population to health services… this is going to be a very bad situation,” he maintained. “We may have more people dying of different communicable diseases than from injury-related conditions.”
On 16 July, the WHO said that vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (VDPV2) had been identified at six locations in sewage samples collected on 23 June from Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah.
WHO explained last week that polio virus can emerge in areas where poor vaccination coverage allows the weakened form of the orally administered vaccine virus strain to mutate into a stronger version.
So far, the virus has found in sewage samples only and no one in Gaza has been identified with polio-induced paralysis. Further genomic sequencing by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta indicated that the virus is linked to a strain that was circulating in Egypt during the second half of 2023, WHO said.
Dr. Saparbekov explained that human samples have not yet been collected, as there is a lack of equipment and of lab capacity to test them. A WHO team will be coming into Gaza on Thursday with up to 50 sample collection kits; it will send the specimens to a lab in Jordan for further analysis.
The WHO official said that together with partners, the agency is conducting an epidemiological investigation and risk assessment to identify the source of the virus, which is at high risk of spreading within Gaza and internationally.
“Based on the results of the assessment, WHO and the [Global Polio Initiative Network] partners will consolidate a set of recommendations, including the need for a mass vaccination campaign,” he said.
Dr. Saparbekov stressed that given the water, sanitation and hygiene situation in Gaza, it will be “very difficult” for the population to follow advice on handwashing and drinking safe water.
“Unfortunately, the majority who live in shelters with one toilet for 600 people and maybe 1.52 litres of water per person will definitely not be able to follow the recommendations,” he said.
The UN health agency representative also insisted that if a mass vaccination campaign is decided, it will be the responsibility of COGAT, the Israeli body responsible for the flow of aid in Gaza, to facilitate the arrival of vaccines into the enclave.
He added that WHO has “so far received reassurances that this will be done.”
He also stressed the need for the Israeli authorities to increase the number of medical teams that are allowed to enter Gaza, make sure that the investigation teams gathering samples are protected as they move around the Strip and that “their movement is deconflicted so that they can safely and freely go and do the epidemiological investigation”.
Turning to the devastation of Gaza’s health system, Dr. Saparbekov said that less than half of primary health care facilities are operational and only 16 out of the enclave’s 36 hospitals are “partially functional”, meaning that they provide only minimal health care services such as triage of the injured. On Monday, WHO and partners conducted a mission to Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, where they have been rehabilitating the outpatient department, destroyed in March 2024, and converting it into an emergency department.
"The only functional equipment that unfortunately remains in Gaza [at Al Shifa hospital] is a stationary X-ray machine,” Dr. Saparbekov said. “All other major hospital equipment, such as ventilation machines, anaesthesia machines, operating theatre equipment have unfortunately been destroyed and it needs to be replaced.”
WHO and partners are “working around the clock” to make sure that that desperately-needed equipment is being brought into Gaza despite of the “restrictions on dual use list”, he said, meaning items which are banned from entering the enclave because the Israeli authorities consider that they could be repurposed for military purposes.
Dr. Saparbekov also highlighted the fact that although medical evacuations have been halted since the closing of the Rafah border crossing in May, 16 critically ill children with 25 companions were evacuated from Gaza to Egypt almost a month ago and will be transferred to Spain this Thursday.
Up to 14,000 people may need to seek medical treatment outside of the Gaza Strip, he said, before advocating for a “steady flow” of patients out of the enclave to access life-saving care.
-Ends -
STORY: Gaza health update - WHO
TRT: 3:27”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 23 JULY 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley.
2. Wide shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference; journalists in the Press room.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Ayadil Saparbekov, Team Lead for Health Emergencies at the UN World Health Organization (WHO) in the occupied Palestinian territory: “I am extremely worried about [an] outbreak happening in Gaza. And this is not only polio, there are different outbreaks of communicable diseases that may happen in Gaza, we had hepatitis A confirmed last year, and now we may have polio.”
4. Medium lateral shot: Speaker at podium from rear; speaker on screen.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Ayadil Saparbekov, Team Lead for Health Emergencies at the UN World Health Organization (WHO) in the occupied Palestinian territory: “This is going to be a very bad situation that we may face in Gaza and we may have more people dying of different communicable diseases than from injury.”
6. Wide lateral shot: Speaker at podium from rear; speaker on screen; journalists in the Press room.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Ayadil Saparbekov, Team Lead for Health Emergencies at the UN World Health Organization (WHO) in the occupied Palestinian territory: “Based on the results of the assessment, WHO and the GP [Global Polio Initiative Network] partners will consolidate a set of recommendations, including the need for the mass vaccination campaign.”
8. Wide lateral shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Ayadil Saparbekov, Team Lead for Health Emergencies at the UN World Health Organization (WHO) in the occupied Palestinian territory: “Given the existing water sanitation limitations and hygiene limitations in Gaza, it will be very difficult for the population to follow the advice to wash their hands, to drink safe water. So you can imagine that some of them will follow this advice. Unfortunately, [the] majority who live in shelters with one toilet for 600 people and maybe 1.52 litres of water per person will definitely not be able to follow the recommendations.”
10. Wide shot: Journalists in the Press room; speaker on screens.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Ayadil Saparbekov, Team Lead for Health Emergencies at the UN World Health Organization (WHO) in the occupied Palestinian territory: “If there will be a decision to conduct [a] mass campaign, to facilitate the arrival of vaccines into Gaza, this is the responsibility of COGAT. We are already in touch with our partners with the COGAT, the authority that is responsible for coordination of government activities in the territory. And we so far received reassurances that this will be done.”
12. Wide lateral shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
13. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Ayadil Saparbekov, Team Lead for Health Emergencies at the UN World Health Organization (WHO) in the occupied Palestinian territory: “The only functional equipment that unfortunately remains in Gaza [at Al Shifa hospital] is a stationary X-ray machine. All other major hospital equipment, such as ventilation machines, anaesthesia machines, operating theatre equipment have unfortunately been destroyed, and it needs to be replaced, again. WHO and partners within the health cluster are working around the clock to make sure that that equipment is being brought into Gaza, despite of the restrictions on dual use list.”
14. Wide shot: Journalists in the Press room.
15. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Ayadil Saparbekov, Team Lead for Health Emergencies at the UN World Health Organization (WHO) in the occupied Palestinian territory: “The medical evacuation through Rafah has been halted. We had, however, several cases of 16 children with 25 companions that were evacuated from Gaza to Egypt. And those kids will be transferred very soon from Egypt into Spain.”
16. Close shots: Journalists in the Press room.
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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
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