The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed deep concern on Friday about the increasing risk of the spread of infectious diseases in Gaza amid the displacement and humanitarian conditions resulting from the war between Israel and Hamas.
Tedros wrote on the X platform, “As the massive displacement of people continues across the southern part of the Gaza Strip, and some families are forced to flee more than once, many taking refuge in overcrowded health facilities, my colleagues and I at the World Health Organization remain very concerned about the increasing risk of infectious diseases.”
He added, “From mid-October to mid-December, there have been ongoing infections among people living in shelters.” Tedros said that about 180,000 people suffered from upper respiratory infections, while 136,400 cases of diarrhea were recorded, half of which were children under the age of five.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, a United Nations agency, confirmed 55,400 cases of lice and scabies, 5,330 cases of chickenpox, and 42,700 cases of rash, including 4,722 cases of impetigo. He added, “The World Health Organization and its partners are tirelessly working to assist health authorities in increasing disease surveillance and control by providing medicines and diagnostic tools to detect infectious diseases such as hepatitis and respond quickly, and to try to improve access to drinking water, food, and sanitation.”
The war between Israel and Hamas erupted following an unprecedented attack launched by the latter on southern Israel on October 7th, resulting in 1,140 deaths, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures. During the attack, about 250 people were kidnapped, 129 of whom are still being held in Gaza, according to the same source.
Since then, Israel has launched intense bombing on the sector and began a ground invasion in late October. The Hamas-run Health Ministry announced that the death toll from the bombing had risen to 21,507, the majority of whom are women and children, with more than 55,000 injured.
