WHO expresses “great concern” about the wartime infectious disease risks in Gaza

Head of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed his alarm on Friday on the increasing risk of infectious illnesses in the Gaza Strip, stating that he was “very concerned”.

“As people continue to be massively displaced across the south of Gaza, with some families forced to move multiple times and many sheltering in overcrowded health facilities, my WHO colleagues and I remain very concerned about the increasing threat of infectious diseases,” Tedros stated on X, which used to be Twitter.

Regarded by the US and the EU as a “terrorist” organization, Israel has pledged to destroy Hamas in revenge for the October 7 strike that claimed the lives of roughly 1,140 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli estimates.

During the incident, some 250 hostages were also abducted; almost half of them are still detained.

According to the health ministry of Gaza, which is run by Hamas, Israel’s ceaseless airstrikes and ground assaults have killed at least 21,320 individuals, the majority of whom were women and children.

Tedros said that illnesses had been plaguing shelter residents from mid-October to mid-December.

He said that 136,400 instances of diarrhea had been reported, with half of those cases involving children under the age of five. Approximately 180,000 persons were reported to be suffering from upper respiratory infections.

According to the head of the UN health office, there had been 42,700 instances of skin rash, including 4722 cases of impetigo, 5,330 cases of chickenpox, and 55,400 cases of lice and scabies.

“WHO and partners are working tirelessly to support the health authorities to increase disease surveillance and control by supplying medicines, testing kits to support prompt detection and response to infectious diseases such as hepatitis, and trying to improve access to safe water, food, hygiene, and sanitation services,” Tedros stated.