Gaza: Over 50 child malnutrition deaths amid aid blockade; entire generation will be ‘permanently affected’ - WHO
In the aid desert of Gaza, malnourished children are dying while survivors can expect a lifetime of dire health problems, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
Since the aid blockade began on 2 March, 57 children have reportedly died from the effects of malnutrition, according to the Ministry of Health.
If the situation persists, nearly 71,000 children under the age of five are expected to be acutely malnourished over the next 11 months.
Briefing journalists in Geneva, WHO’s representative in the occupied Palestinian territory Dr. Rik Peeperkorn said that that Israel’s complete aid embargo has left only enough WHO supplies to treat 500 children with acute malnutrition – “a fraction of the urgent need”.
“People are trapped in this cycle where a lack of diversified food, malnutrition and disease fuel each other,” he warned.
Dr. Peeperkorn’s comments follow the publication on Monday of a new analysis by the UN-backed food security alert scale known as the IPC showing that one in five people in Gaza – 500,000 – faces starvation, while the entire 2.1 million population of the Strip is subjected to prolonged food shortages.
“This is one of the world’s worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time,” Dr. Peeperkorn said.
The UN health agency representative spoke of his recent visit to Kamal Adwan hospital in north Gaza, where each day more than 300 children are screened at a WHO-supported nutrition centre. During the visit, the hospital reported more than 11 per cent of cases with global acute malnutrition.
Describing the affected children, he said, “I’ve seen them [in the] wards… A child of five years old, and I thought he’s two and a half”.
WHO supports 16 outpatient and three inpatient malnutrition treatment centres in the enclave with lifesaving supplies, but the stopping of aid by Israel and shrinking humanitarian access are threatening its ability to sustain these operations.
Dr. Peeperkorn insisted on the long-term damage from malnutrition which “can last a lifetime”, with impacts including stunted growth, impaired cognitive development and health.
“Without enough nutritious food, clean water, access to health care, an entire generation will be permanently affected,” he warned.
The WHO official stressed that the agency was “constantly” raising with the Israeli authorities the need to get supplies into the Strip. Some 31 WHO aid trucks are at a standstill in Al- Arish in Egypt just a few dozen kilometres away from the Rafah border crossing with Gaza and more supplies are positioned in the West Bank, ready to move “any day when this is allowed”.
Turning to attacks on health care, Dr. Peeperkorn said that the burn unit of Nasser Medical Complex in the southern town of Khan Younis was reportedly hit by an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday, killing two and injuring 12. The attack has resulted in the loss of 18 hospital beds in the surgical department including eight “critical” intensive care beds.
Media reported that a Palestinian journalist was killed in the attack during treatment for injuries sustained in a previous airstrike.
“Health care is not a target,” Dr. Peeperkorn concluded. He reiterated calls for the protection of health facilities, an immediate end to the aid blockade, the release of all hostages held by Palestinian armed groups and for a ceasefire “which leads to lasting peace”.
-ends-
STORY: Gaza health update WHO 13 May 2025
TRT: 2:28”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICT
IONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 13 MAY 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley.
2. Wide shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, World Health Organization (WHO): “Remaining supplies in the WHO stocks inside Gaza are only enough to treat another 500 children with acute malnutrition – a fraction of the urgent needs.”
4. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, World Health Organization (WHO): “We got reports from the Ministry of Health that 55 children have reportedly died from the effects of malnutrition. And if the situation persists, again, this dire situation persists, nearly 71,000 children under the age of five are expected to be acutely malnourished over the next 11 months. So, what we actually see in Gaza, people are trapped in this whole cycle where a lack of food, diversified food, malnutrition and disease fuel each other.”
6. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, World Health Organization (WHO): “We all know that the long-term damage from malnutrition can last a lifetime, from stunted growth, impaired cognitive development, poor health, etc., so without enough nutritious food, clean water, access to health care, an entire generation will be permanently affected.”
8. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, World Health Organization (WHO): “There’s 31 WHO trucks ready in Al- Arish but supplies cannot be moved. We also have supplies in the West Bank, blood products etc, which could be there any day when this is allowed.”
10. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, World Health Organization (WHO): “The burn unit of Nasser Medical Complex was reportedly hit on 13 May, resulting in two fatalities and 12 injuries, that's reported to us. One of the injured individuals is in critical condition, is currently undergoing multiple surgical operations. So, the impact on the hospital infrastructure, 18 hospital beds are lost in the surgical department, eight ICU beds, and you know how critical they are, and ten inpatient beds. For us, of course, health care is not a target.”
12. Various shots of journalists in the Press room.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
Death and suffering in Gaza are ever-present and the enclave's people now have little choice but to risk their lives to fetch aid supplies, UN agencies said on Friday. “I met a little boy who was wounded by a tank shell at one of these sites on the final day of me leaving Gaza - I learnt that this little boy had since died of those injuries,” said UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder. “That speaks to both what is happening at these sites and what is not happening when it comes to medical evacuations.”
1
1
1
Edited News | UNCTAD
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched today the World Investment Report 2025. Global foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 11%, marking the second consecutive year of decline and confirming a deepening slowdown in productive capital flows, according to the report.
1
1
1
Edited News
Afghan journalist Zahra Nader fled twice due to Taliban rule, highlighting severe women's rights issues.
1
1
1
Edited News
Gazan photojournalist Motaz Azaiza documents war's impact, gaining global attention but facing personal peril.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
As the Iran-Israel crisis continued into a sixth day, the UN deputy human rights chief Nada Al-Nashif called for urgent talks to end the continuing exchanges of missile attacks between Tehran and Tel-Aviv.
2
1
1
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
Heavy fighting in Sudan continues to escalate as a “direct result” of the continued flow of arms into the country meaning that the war is far from over, top independent human rights investigators said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
More Gazans killed trying to get food, healthcare near to ‘full disaster’
Gaza’s health system is at breaking point, overwhelmed time and again by scores of patients killed or injured near aid distribution sites, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
La situation en République démocratique du Congo est aujourd’hui encore plus grave et alarmante, a averti lundi le Haut-Commissaire des Nations Unies aux droits de l’homme Volker Türk.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, highlighting key issues and trends, and the human rights situation in some 60 countries.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNDP
As diplomatic efforts continue to end fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN development agency (UNDP) issued an appeal on Friday on behalf of people uprooted by the violence to help them rebuild their lives and livelihoods.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
The very real risk of famine continues to stalk Sudan’s communities impacted by war, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday, in an appeal for more funding to support immediate needs and boost longer-term recovery across the country.
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
What can each one of us do to save the planet, asks Yann Arthus-Bertrand on World Environment Day
The last documentary film of legendary nature photographer, documentary director and environmental activist “Nature: The Call for Reconciliation” looks for an answer.