Gaza, Nov. 29: The World Health Organization’s Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday that the overcrowding, lack of food, water, sanitation, and basic hygiene in Gaza are contributing to the disease’s rapid spread.
The head of WHO said in a long post on X that 1.3 million people were staying in shelters in Gaza at the moment of a humanitarian ceasefire struck between Israel and Hamas.
The speaker stated that a significant number of cases of acute respiratory infections (111,000), scabies (12,000), lice (11,000), diarrhea (36,000), skin rashes (24,000), impetigo (2,500), chickenpox (2,500), and jaundice (1,100) are being caused by overcrowding, lack of food, water, sanitation and basic hygiene, waste management, and access to medication.
In addition to all of this, Ghebreyesus said, there was a “heightened risk of disease outbreaks.”
Given the living circumstances and dearth of medical attention, illnesses may claim more lives than explosions. A long-term truce is required. Right now. For civilians, it really is a question of life or death, the WHO director said.
Acute respiratory infections, skin infections, diarrhea, and hygiene-related illnesses like lice have all significantly increased in the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) shelters in Gaza as a result of overcrowding and unhygienic circumstances.
Initial accounts of illness outbreaks, such as the hepatitis virus, are also available.
Up to 1.8 million people, or roughly 80% of the population, have been displaced in Gaza as a result of the conflict, according to UNRWA.
156 UNRWA sites located across Gaza are presently home to about 1.1 million registered IDPs.
An additional 191,000 internally displaced people are said to be lodging at 124 public hospitals, schools, and other locations, including community centers, workplaces, and wedding halls.
The buildup of almost 35 tons of solid trash in the city has resulted in health and environmental consequences, as the Gaza City municipality warned on Tuesday.
The Israeli military has prohibited the delivery of the solid trash to the major dump near Gaza’s outer barrier, according to the municipality.
Meanwhile, drinking water from questionable sources continues to raise worries about dehydration and waterborne illnesses.
