2023-11-20 14:45:39
The Regional Director of the World Health Organization for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, said, “What the Gaza Strip is being exposed to is one of the most serious health emergencies that the organization has dealt with,” revealing at the same time the organization’s inability to obtain updates regarding the number of casualties in Gaza.
Ahmed Al-Mandhari explained in an interview with Sky News Arabia that the scale of killing, destruction, and attacks that we have witnessed in Gaza since last October 7 until now is unprecedented in terms of the number of victims, which exceeded 11,000 deaths, most of which were among children, women, and the elderly, and the number of attacks also launched on Health facilities, which represent a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.
He added: “Demolishing the health sector infrastructure until it reached the point of collapse, depriving more than two million people of water, electricity and fuel supplies, tightening the comprehensive siege on them and preventing or limiting the arrival of sufficient humanitarian aid across the border, and the forced evacuation of patients and health workers from hospitals, which was… The latest of which is Al-Shifa Medical Complex.”
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Highly dangerous mission
Al-Mandhari spoke regarding the details of the visit of an international medical team led by the World Health Organization to Al-Shifa Medical Hospital on Sunday, the results of the visit, and the current situation in the hospital, saying:
On Saturday, a joint United Nations humanitarian assessment team, led by the World Health Organization, arrived at Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza. To assess the situation on the ground and conduct rapid situation analysis, evaluate medical priorities and develop logistical options for further missions. This mission is “high risk”; Because it is in an active conflict zone, with heavy fighting continuing near the hospital. Prior to the arrival of the joint UN team, the Israeli army issued orders to evacuate 2,500 internally displaced persons seeking refuge in hospitals, who had evacuated the facility, along with a number of ambulatory patients and hospital staff, by the time the team arrived. Due to time constraints related to the security situation, the team was only able to spend one hour inside the hospital, which he described as a “death zone,” the situation as “desperate,” and signs of bombing and gunfire were evident. The team saw a “mass grave” at the entrance to the hospital, and were told that more than 80 people were buried there. The team noted that due to the security situation, it was impossible for staff to effectively manage waste in the hospital, and the corridors and hospital floors were littered with medical and solid waste, increasing the risk of infection. Patients and health workers who spoke with the team were so fearful for their safety and health that they requested evacuation from the hospital. Al-Shifa Hospital can no longer receive patients, and the injured and sick are now being directed to the Indonesian Hospital, which is facing severe pressure and is almost non-functional. 25 health workers and 291 patients remained in Al-Shifa Hospital, and a number of patients died during the past two to three days, due to the cessation of medical services. The UN team that visited the hospital included public health experts, logistical officials and security personnel from various UN departments.
The organization’s Secretary-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wrote on the X platform (formerly Twitter): “The team saw a hospital that was no longer able to function: no water, no food, no electricity, no fuel, and medical supplies were exhausted.”
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No ability to update victims
The WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean explains the current situation of the health system in Gaza in a number of points:
The health system in Gaza is on the verge of collapse following a great steadfastness for regarding 6 full weeks, following the situation has exceeded the point of tragedy and become more than catastrophic. We have lost the ability to receive updates on the number of casualties since November 10, which then reached more than 11,000 deaths. About 27 out of 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip and more than 47 out of 72 health centers were closed. The number of attacks on health facilities was regarding 275, including 140 attacks that occurred in Gaza, and led to the collapse of the health system. 1.6 million people have been displaced from their homes, half of them children. More than 740,000 of them live in overcrowded shelters. These people are at risk of contracting communicable diseases, and with limited access to clean water, there is an increased risk of waterborne diseases. There are 350,000 people suffering from non-communicable diseases (heart disease, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, etc.). 9,000 cancer patients need urgent care, and with hospitals stopping work, 70 cancer patients are at risk of death. There are more than 1,000 people in need of dialysis, including 30 children.
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Spread of epidemics and diseases
In response to the impact of the current health situation in Gaza on the spread of diseases and epidemics, Al-Mandhari told Sky News Arabia: “With citizens suffering from food shortages, malnutrition, imminent cold weather, and the possibility of rainfall that exacerbates the situation, especially for the displaced in places… “Sheltering, they will be more vulnerable to disease.”
In this regard, he expressed his fear that with the onset of winter, its impact on the displaced and those residing in the open, or in temporary shelters not prepared for these weather conditions, would worsen, and the possibility of the spread of communicable and respiratory diseases would increase sharply.
He also warned that the disruption of routine vaccination provision, in addition to the shortage of medicines needed to treat infectious diseases, will lead to an increased risk of accelerating the spread of the disease, and this matter is exacerbated by the incomplete coverage of the disease surveillance and surveillance system, including early detection of diseases and response capabilities.
Sentenced to death
According to the World Health Organization official, the organization has monitored, from mid-October 2023 until now, the spread of a number of diseases as follows:
More than 33,551 cases of diarrhea were reported in IDP shelters, more than half of these cases among children under the age of five, a significant increase compared to an average of 2,000 cases per month in children under the age of five throughout 2021 and 2022. 54,866 cases of upper respiratory infections reported. Overcrowded shelters that do not have the basics of a healthy environment mean that many diseases and outbreaks can spread more easily. 1.6 million people have been displaced from their homes, half of them children. More than 740,000 of them are living in overcrowded shelters. These people are at imminent risk of contracting infectious diseases, and with limited access to clean water, there is an increased risk of waterborne diseases. UNRWA reports that the UNRWA Khan Yunis Training Center currently hosts more than 22,000 internally displaced people, with less than two square meters of space per person, and at least 600 people sharing a single toilet, and deteriorating sanitary conditions, coupled with a lack of privacy and space, pose huge risks on the health and safety of people seeking shelter. Al-Mandhari stressed that hospitals stopping work is “a death sentence for critically ill patients residing in them, who cannot be evacuated from those hospitals without exposing their lives to death, in addition to the fact that there are tens of thousands of patients who need round-the-clock care, such as cancer, heart, and kidney failure patients.” And residents of intensive care and renal units.
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When asked regarding the situation of World Health Organization staff on the ground in Gaza, Al-Mandhari answered: The organization’s country office in the occupied Palestinian territory and its branches in the Gaza Strip. These offices include the organization’s employees and employees who work from within, and communicate with the Ministry of Health in the Strip, and partners on the ground such as the agency. UNRWA and other sister international organizations, and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
He expressed his regret over the death of more than a hundred UNRWA health workers while carrying out their duty to provide aid and support to the residents of Gaza.
Al-Mandhari was keen to praise the health professionals in Gaza, pointing out that these workers set the most wonderful examples of sacrifice and valor in performing their professional and humanitarian duties, and even go beyond the call of duty to treat the wounded and save lives under impossible circumstances and under enormous nervous and psychological pressure. They are even subjected to bombing during… Attacks targeting health facilities.
He continues: The most basic rights we ask for for these health workers are to perform their work without their lives being threatened by attacks targeting health facilities, and to be provided with medical supplies and the minimum requirements for health work such as electricity and water supplies to enable them to perform their tasks.
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