Gaza's water and disease emergency UNICEF - WHO
/
2:23
/
MP4
/
175 MB
Transcripts
Download

Edited News | UNICEF , WHO

Gaza's water and disease emergency UNICEF - WHO

Gazans need access to polio vaccines amid ‘deathly cycle’ of malnutrition, heat and disease, say UN aid agencies

In a bid to prevent a polio epidemic in Gaza, UN humanitarians on Tuesday repeated continuing international calls for a ceasefire, to allow a mass vaccination campaign to get under way.

Almost 10 months of war and intense Israeli bombardment have shattered healthcare in Gaza and disrupted routine inoculation rounds for youngsters, leaving them exposed to a range of preventable diseases including polio, which the UN World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed had been identified last month in several sewage samples taken from Gaza.

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said that a ceasefire would be “the best” solution, before calling at the very least for the enclave’s roads to be kept clear and for safe access for medical and other relief supplies. “Otherwise, the vaccines would be sitting as many other trucks are across the border, either on the Rafah side or at the other checkpoints either inside or just inside or outside Gaza,” he said, a week since the UN health agency announced that it was sending one million polio vaccines to the Strip.

No cases of paralysis have been reported so far, according to WHO.

If a child receives the full course of vaccines, the risk of contracting paralyzing polio is “negligible”, said UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder. He insisted that vaccine rates had been “very high” before war erupted in response to Hamas-led terror attacks on multiple targets in southern Israel which left some 1,250 dead and more than 250 taken hostage. “But the mass displacement, the decimation of health infrastructure, the horrendously insecure operating environment, they all make it much, much more difficult, hence putting more and more children at risk,” he said, adding that vaccination coverage was now at around 89 per cent – “hence you’ve got this increased risk for children”.

Condemning the reported destruction last week of a key water treatment station in the southern city of Rafah, Mr. Elder underscored the additional health dangers this had created for Gazans, now that it had been “blown up”. It is yet another grim reminder on these assaults on families who are already in desperate need of water,” he said.

Today across Gaza, average water availability has fallen to between two and nine litres per person, per day, whereas the minimum should be 15 litres, Mr. Elder continued. “Somehow people are holding on, but of course we are now in that deathly cycle whereby children are very malnourished, there is immense heat, there is lack of water, there's a horrendous lack of sanitation and that's the cycle. On top of that, of course, there is a very, very active conflict.”

In its latest update issued Monday evening, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that more than 200,000 people in Gaza – nine per cent of the population – have been forcibly displaced by Israeli evacuation orders.

Directives issued by the Israeli authorities on Saturday and Sunday impacted Rafah, Khan Younis and Deir al Balah “where a combined 56,000 people had been sheltering”, OCHA said, before warning that the development comes “at a time when water, sanitation and hygiene conditions are being further eroded in Gaza, with infectious diseases on the rise”.

SHOTLIST

  1. Exterior medium: UN Geneva flag alley.
  2. SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UNICEF: “That report that many of you will have seen of one of the main water facilities in Rafah being blown up is of course abhorrent and again demonstrates a flagrant disregard for children's rights. It is yet another grim reminder on these assaults on families who are already in desperate need of water.”
  3. Medium: podium speaker in Press room, TV monitor showing Mr. Elder speaking via video link.
  4. SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UNICEF: “Without it, already vulnerable children or families, they're likely to be forced again, increasingly, to resort to unsafe water, so putting them in all those risks that we see time and time again, day after day in Gaza: dehydration, malnutrition, diseases.”
  5. Medium-wide, journalists, TV monitors.
  6. SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UNICEF: “We're still at a point that somehow people are holding on, but of course we are now in that deathly cycle whereby children are very malnourished, there is immense heat, there is lack of water, there's a horrendous lack of sanitation and that's the cycle. On top of that, of course, there is a very, very active conflict.”
  7. Medium-wide: podium speaker, journalists and TV monitor showing Mr. Elder speaking via video link.
  8. SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UNICEF: “The range of water availability in Gaza has been reduced to between two and nine litres per person, per day, two to nine; according to humanitarian standards, it should be 15 litres of water.”
  9. Medium-wide, TV screens showing WHO spokesperson speaking via videolink.
  10. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, WHO: “We need yeah then a ceasefire - the best - but at least cleared and safe roads, safe access. Otherwise, the vaccines would be sitting as many other trucks are across the border, either on the Rafah side or at the other checkpoints either inside or just inside or outside Gaza, with not much help.”
  11. Medium-wide, podium speaker, journalists and TV screens.
  12. SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UNICEF: “The Gaza Strip previously had a very high vaccination coverage across the population. But due to the impact of the conflict, coverage now for example, around polio is around 89 per cent, down from around 99 per cent, before the conflict. Hence you’ve got this increased risk for children.”
  13. Medium, participants seated in Press room.
  14. Medium, participant, Press room.
  15. Medium, participant, Press room.


Audio Files 1
Download Gaza's water and disease emergency UNICEF - WHO (Edited Story)
Download

Similar Stories

Gaza - Israel war 7 October 2025 - OCHA - UNICEF - WHO

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , WHO

Gaza - Israel war 7 October 2025 - OCHA - UNICEF - WHO ENG FRA

Two years of Gaza-Israel war bring ‘indescribable’ pain: UN humanitarians

Two years since the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel, UN humanitarians on Tuesday reiterated calls for the release of all hostages in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire and an aid surge to alleviate Palestinians’ suffering, as talks on a US-driven peace plan continued in Egypt.

Justice for Syria's disappeared - Riyad Avlar – 06 October 2025

1

1

1

Edited News

Justice for Syria's disappeared - Riyad Avlar – 06 October 2025 ENG FRA

Syria prison survivor seeks justice for the missing with UN backing.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk at Human Rights Council on Ukraine: “This war needs to end”

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk at Human Rights Council on Ukraine: “This war needs to end” ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday warned that three and a half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, the war in Ukraine has entered an even more dangerous and deadly stage for Ukrainian civilians, under relentless bombardment of their schools, hospitals, and shelters.

30 minutes in a Gaza hospital - UNICEF - WHO - ICRC

1

1

1

Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , ICRC

30 minutes in a Gaza hospital - UNICEF - WHO - ICRC ENG FRA

Quadcopter victims, terror and death: 30 minutes in a Gaza hospital 

UN aid teams on Friday highlighted the disturbing situation in Gaza’s makeshift hospitals, where premature babies cry for scant oxygen and medics attempt to save child survivors targeted by airstrikes in their tents and quadcopter victims reportedly shot while fetching bread.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk’s Oral update to the Human Rights Council on the situation in Haiti

2

1

2

Edited News | OHCHR

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk’s Oral update to the Human Rights Council on the situation in Haiti ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday delivered his oral update to the UN Human Rights Council’s 60th session on the human rights situation in Haiti.

The High Commissioner welcomed Wednesday’s decision of the UN Security Council to strengthen the Multinational Security Support mission by transitioning to the Gang Suppression Force for Haiti, stating it is a strong signal of international support for the Haitian people.

Gaza aid update - UNICEF, OCHA 30 September 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF

Gaza aid update - UNICEF, OCHA 30 September 2025 ENG FRA

Gaza: As world waits for US peace plan news, UN aid teams stress need for ceasefire

UN agencies reiterated calls for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday to help alleviate Palestinian suffering, as a new US 20-point plan raised hopes of a halt to the fighting.

Gaza healthcare attacks – WHO

1

1

1

Edited News | WHO

Gaza healthcare attacks – WHO ENG FRA

The ongoing Israeli military offensive in Gaza City continues to overwhelm the war-torn enclave’s medical professionals, with four more hospitals forced to shut down this month alone, the UN World Health Organization said on Friday.

UN Report: Civilian detainees subjected to troubling patterns of torture and ill treatment since Russia’s full scale attack on Ukraine

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Report: Civilian detainees subjected to troubling patterns of torture and ill treatment since Russia’s full scale attack on Ukraine ENG FRA

A UN Human Rights report released today details the dire situation of thousands of civilians detained since Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine in 2022. 

Sudan cholera update WHO - UNICEF

1

1

1

Edited News | WHO , UNICEF

Sudan cholera update WHO - UNICEF ENG FRA

Sudan war: Life-saving cholera vaccination campaign begins in Darfur

Amid the devastating war in Sudan, UN aid teams are overcoming major obstacles to curb a cholera outbreak claiming lives across the country, with young children particularly at risk.

Afghanistan earthquake response – UN Women 19 September 2025

2

1

2

Edited News , B-roll | UN WOMEN

Afghanistan earthquake response – UN Women 19 September 2025 ENG FRA

Women and girls still reeling from Afghanistan's recent deadly earthquake face even greater suffering rebuilding their lives and livelihoods without much more help from the international community, UN Women said on Friday.

UN report: Sudan crisis deepens amid rising civilian casualties - UN Human rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence and OHCHR Sudan Representative Li Fung

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN report: Sudan crisis deepens amid rising civilian casualties - UN Human rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence and OHCHR Sudan Representative Li Fung ENG FRA

Rising civilian casualties, growing ethnic violence and the grim humanitarian situation in Sudan underscore how the crisis there is deepening, according to a UN Human rights report published today.

'Not a Target' UN Geneva Protest - 18 September 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | UNITED NATIONS

'Not a Target' UN Geneva Protest - 18 September 2025 ENG FRA

United Nations agencies staff demonstrates on Place des Nations in Geneva to denounce the killing of their colleagues in Gaza.