2024-01-22 13:31:00
Overcrowding, lack of drinking water and poor hygiene increase Hepatitis A cases in Gaza, according to the UN
General view of a tent camp housing displaced Palestinians in Rafah, Gaza, on January 22. (Credit: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Archyde.com)
Hepatitis A infections have increased in Gaza due to overcrowding, lack of drinking water and poor hygiene, the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency in the Near East (UNRWA) said, citing the Gaza Ministry of Health. , led by Hamas.
UNRWA cited the Ministry of Health as saying that suspected cases increased 16-fold in January, more than in the entire month of November last year.
Thousands of displaced people are sharing toilets and shower areas, UNRWA said on Facebook.
The WHO chief said last week that 24 cases of hepatitis A in Gaza were confirmed through testing kits and warned of “inhumane living conditions” contributing to the spread of the disease.
“The capacity to diagnose diseases remains extremely limited. There is no functioning laboratory. The capacity to respond also remains limited,” WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus declared on X Thursday.
According to the WHO, as of last week there had been no deaths in Gaza due to hepatitis A, but several thousand people with jaundice, “presumably also due to hepatitis A,” Ghebreyusus said.
Tons of waste have been piling up around the tents where the displaced live as garbage disposal and collection services have collapsed, UNRWA reported on Friday.
“The consequences are evident in the community, with an increasing spread of diseases associated with this contamination among families and children.”
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