Today's Edition
ABDULLAH ABU DAIF (CAIRO) - The Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean at the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Ahmed Al Mandhari, said that approximately 1.6 million people from Gaza do not have proper access to essentials, including food, water, medicine, and shelter.
Al Mandhari told Aletihad that civilians in Gaza are still exposed to significant risks and terrifying health issues, noting that the humanitarian aid that has reached the sector so far represents only a small fraction of their needs. The regional director pointed out that a staggering number of basic infrastructure facilities in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, leading to a severe shortage in water supplies that currently do not exceed 5% of the population's needs.
He said that sewage services have been damaged or completely stopped, raising fears of disease outbreaks.
Furthermore, the necessary capabilities to provide healthcare are in serious decline and are almost entirely exhausted, he said, adding that he fears that there is ''little time left before death rates soar alarmingly".
Al Mandhari revealed that healthcare facilities in Gaza and the West Bank have suffered over 143 attacks in the past two weeks, with hospitals already reaching the point of collapse due to the lack of medicines and medical supplies. He warned of the imminent danger of disease outbreaks due to the continuous bombing that has affected shelters, health facilities, water and sewage networks, and electricity, pointing to a staggering number of civilian basic infrastructure facilities in Gaza that were damaged or destroyed.
Al Mandhari said that the WHO has allocated over $4 million for response efforts and continues to send medical supply shipments from its logistics centre in Dubai, noting that the last shipment was sent to the border area with Egypt to be delivered to Gaza as soon as the crossing is reopened.
"The latest shipment includes surgical supplies, essential goods, and medicines for non-communicable diseases sufficient for 150,000 people for three months," he added.
He expressed the WHO's support for purchasing fuel from the local market, but noted that the available quantities are extremely limited. He also stated that the WHO is working through its office in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and its Gaza branches to support the tremendous efforts being made by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and healthcare workers who are working day and night to save the injured and sick in extremely harsh conditions with scarce resources.
With approximately one million displaced people, toilets have become a significant problem, and the incidence of diarrhoeal diseases, skin infections, and respiratory infections is just a matter of time, Al Mandhari stressed.
He revealed that over 200 births happen in Gaza daily, but due to the harsh conditions, women do not have safe places to go into labour and cannot reach hospitals in case of any complications.
The United Nations (UN) stated that, although a number of relief aid convoys have reached Gaza since last Saturday, it is not enough. The UN mentioned that aid shipments, for example, did not include generators that are urgently needed. Although quantities of rice and lentils were delivered as well, they cannot be cooked due to the lack of water and gas for cooking.
