Gaza health update - WHO
/
3:27
/
MP4
/
253.3 MB
Transcripts
Download

Edited News | WHO

Gaza health update - WHO

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.


Audio Files 1
Download Gaza health update - WHO (Edited Story)
Download

Similar Stories

Widespread starvation in Gaza – IPC, UN Women 29 July 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | UNWOMEN

Widespread starvation in Gaza – IPC, UN Women 29 July 2025 ENG FRA

Aid agencies echoed wider warnings of growing signs of widespread starvation in Gaza on Tuesday, as UN-partnered international food security experts released their most dire assessment yet of the situation in the wartorn enclave.

Sudan displaced return – IOM, UNDP, UNHCR 25 July 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | IOM , UNDP , UNHCR

Sudan displaced return – IOM, UNDP, UNHCR 25 July 2025 ENG FRA

Sudan: urgent help needed as more than 1.3 million war-displaced people begin to return home

As conflict rages on across parts of Sudan, pockets of relative safety have emerged in the past four month, spurring more than one million internally displaced Sudanese to make their way home, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM). A further 320,000 cross-border refugees have come back to Sudan since last year, mainly from Egypt and South Sudan, to assess the current situation before deciding to return to their country for good.

Gaza crisis update UNRWA – WHO 22 July 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | UNRWA , WHO

Gaza crisis update UNRWA – WHO 22 July 2025 ENG FRA

Gaza: SOS messages describe people fainting from hunger; UN health worker detained

Worrying alerts from United Nations staff in Gaza who have been fainting from hunger and exhaustion over the past 48 hours have increased fears for people’s survival in the devastated enclave, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

Funding cuts impact on aid access - UNHCR Dominique Hyde - 18 July 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | UNHCR , UNOG

Funding cuts impact on aid access - UNHCR Dominique Hyde - 18 July 2025 ENG FRA

Over 11.6 million refugees risk losing aid access due to funding cuts, says UNHCR

Approximately one in three refugees and other vulnerable individuals normally supported by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) are expected to lose out from funding cuts, it said on Friday.

UN Human Rights Ravina Shamdasani on opening mission in Bangladesh

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Ravina Shamdasani on opening mission in Bangladesh ENG FRA

Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, made the following announcement on the Office’s opening of a new mission in Bangladesh.

UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on returns of Afghans

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on returns of Afghans ENG FRA

The surge in the number of Afghans forced or compelled to return to Afghanistan this year is creating a multi-layered human rights crisis requiring the urgent attention of the international community,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said on Friday.  

UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on violence in Suweida, Syria

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on violence in Suweida, Syria ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday called for accountability and justice for the killings and other gross human rights violations and abuses in the southern city of Suweida. 

Syria Sweida violence OHCHR – UNHCR 18 July 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR

Syria Sweida violence OHCHR – UNHCR 18 July 2025 ENG FRA

Syria: hundreds killed in Sweida, ‘widespread’ violations as civilians flee for their lives

Amid violent clashes in southern Syria’s Sweida governorate, a picture of grave human rights abuses and rising humanitarian needs is emerging by the hour, the UN said on Friday.

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell on Ukraine

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell on Ukraine ENG

At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva the UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell made the following statement on the latest number of civilian casualties in Ukraine.

UN Human Rights Briefing on West Bank

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Briefing on West Bank ENG FRA

The UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday called for investigations into hundreds of killings of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank by Israeli security forces and settlers, warning against ongoing forced mass displacement of the Palestinian population.

Gaza And Occupied West Bank Update - OHCHR, UNRWA  15 July 2025

1

1

2

Edited News | OHCHR , UNRWA

Gaza And Occupied West Bank Update - OHCHR, UNRWA 15 July 2025 ENG FRA

Nearly 900 people have been killed in Gaza in recent weeks trying to fetch food, with most deaths linked to private aid hubs run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday.

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on escalating gang violence  in Haiti

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on escalating gang violence in Haiti ENG FRA

The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the UN Human Rights Office have today released a report detailing the evolution of violent gang incidents beyond the capital Port-au-Prince since October 2024 up to June 2025, and the resulting loss of life and mass displacement.