| No images? Click here  Friday, 17 January 2025 NOTES FROM PRESS BRIEFING AT UNITED NATIONS OF GENEVA -- 17 JANUARY 2025 Dr Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in oPt (speaking from Jérusalem) Update on the health situation in Gaza and West Bank Gaza Ceasefire: - WHO welcomes the announcement of a deal to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza. We hope all parties will respect their commitment to fully implement the deal and work towards much needed lasting peace. - Everyone in Gaza is affected, and there is no quick fix. The entire population has faced multiple displacements; more than 46,000 people have been killed, and over 110,000 injured. Diseases are on the rise, and the risk of famine persists. Only half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are operational, and more than 25% of the injured face life-changing injuries. Specialized health care in many areas is unavailable, medical evacuations abroad remain extremely slow, and the breakdown of public order, coupled with the activities of armed gangs, poses serious concerns. Additionally, 664 health attacks since October 2023 have killed civilians and health workers and damaged critical health infrastructure. - The ceasefire announcement brings hope, but the challenge ahead is staggering. Addressing the immense needs and restoring the health system will be a complex and challenging task, given the scale, complexity of operation and constraints involved. - WHO and its partners stand ready to support the health system and the people of Gaza. It is scaling up operations and mobilizing critical supplies and resources to address immediate needs and support early recovery efforts. It is critical that the significant security and political obstacles to delivering aid across Gaza are removed. We need rapid, unhindered, and safe access and expedited flow of aid into and across Gaza. - Restoring the health system is a collective effort that must be guided by and executed in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the health workforce, and partners. We need Palestinian led solutions that work for Gaza. We urge donors and the global community to provide flexible funding, enabling swift and effective response to urgent and longer-term needs. Over $10 billion required to meet the needs of health system recovery. - Reaching the humanitarian targets laid out in the ceasefire requires a conducive environment. We need: o Guaranteed, unrestricted and safe access to deliver essential supplies, via all channels and crossings, for the United Nations and partners, including local and international non-governmental organizations. o Free, safe and unconditional movement for Gaza’s population and humanitarian so that they can move across the strip, and those wishing to return to their residences are able to do so. o Active protection of health care and civilians, effective deconfliction, protection from armed gangs; o Increased flow of aid into and across Gaza o Expedited visas for all international humanitarian staff with significantly longer durations; o Expedited medical evacuations for over 12,000 patients and their companions who need it, via all possible routes. Restore the referral pathway to East Jerusalem and the West Bank. o The lifting of restrictions and streamlined approval processes for the entry of essential items needed to repair vital infrastructure and restore health facilities. o Road repair, rubble removal and the remediation of unexploded ordnance. WHO’s support - WHO has prepared a 60-day implementation plan for the ceasefire in line with the Health Cluster ceasefire plan. The plan will focus on expanding the response efforts already underway and scaling up through the different phases of the ceasefire. Our efforts will focus on: Restore and Expand Essential Health Services - Deploy temporary prefabricated clinics and hospitals, integrating them with existing health facilities wherever possible, to expand bed capacity, address urgent health needs, and enhance service delivery in underserved and newly accessible areas. Focus will be on the following priority response areas (trauma and emergency care, comprehensive primary health care, child health, sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR), non-communicable diseases (NCDs), multidisciplinary rehabilitation, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS). Expansion of health service delivery will require strengthening service delivery capacity through expanding in-patient bed and operational theatre capacities, deployment of national and international health workers, including Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) and Specialized Care Teams (SCTs), scaling up supply chains via all possible routes to ensure adequate delivery and stocks of essential medicines and supplies, and management of minor repairs of health facilities to enable service delivery. Restore health infrastructure by assessing and reactivating damaged facilities, prioritizing primary health centers and hospitals in high-need areas. Rehabilitate partially damaged facilities, focusing on essential services, and strengthen utilities like water, electricity, and waste management systems. Strengthen referral pathways for critical care within Gaza and cross-border evacuations, and foster collaboration among health providers to streamline services and reduce patient hardships. If approved, re-establish medical evacuation pathways to the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and to other countries from all possible routes from Gaza. Address malnutrition - By stockpiling and distributing therapeutic foods, including ready-to-use therapeutic food, for children under five and pregnant or breastfeeding women. Expand infant and young child feeding support by setting up mother-baby nutrition spaces and training frontline workers in breastfeeding promotion and complementary feeding practices. Protect communities from epidemics - By reinforcing disease surveillance systems for timely reporting and outbreak management. Scale up immunization campaigns to close gaps, focusing on measles, polio, and other vaccine-preventable diseases. Stabilize and strengthen human resources - By ensuring that all Gaza health workers can do their job, by deploying additional healthcare professionals, including external medical teams and local workers to fill critical gaps. Redistribute the workforce to underserved areas with shifting populations and conduct targeted training in trauma care, emergency obstetric care, and mental health services to enhance capacity. Preparedness and Public Health Protection - Ensure an adequate flow of supplies into Gaza, stockpile essential emergency supplies, including vaccines and PPE, while strengthening WASH efforts in collaboration with partners to monitor water quality and promote hygiene, preventing outbreaks like cholera and diarrheal diseases. Governance and Coordination - Utilize existing humanitarian coordination platforms to streamline services and align with recovery priorities, while enhancing health information systems to capture and monitor community health status and emerging trends. Medical Evacuation - Medical Evacuation remains very slow. On evacuation requests submitted between 27 Nov – 24 Dec 2024 only 29 patients (2.4%) out of 1200 patients were approved for medical evacuation abroad. - Of these 1200 patients, 405 were children. Only 10 were approved to travel with companions. 99 were approved for travel without companions, which means they cannot leave. - 148 children were denied and 148 are pending approval. The 148 children who were denied, will be re-considered by Israeli authorities for medical evacuation abroad. - Total number of patients evacuated since Oct 2023: 5,405 West Bank While the focus remains on Gaza, the West Bank has also had a devastating year. Figures from Nov - Access to health: Operations, increasing settler violence, continued closure of checkpoints, arbitrary obstructions, detention of health workers, as well as the closure of entire towns and communities are impeding access to health facilities o 52 (100%) out of 52 hospitals are at least partially functioning. 22 are partially accessible o The 3 primary causes for functionality constraints as reported by 8 partially functioning hospitals: lack of staff, equipment and supplies o The 3 primary causes for accessibility constraints as reported by 22 partially accessible hospitals: insecurity, financial barriers such as user-fee, other physical barriers. WASH: 17% of hospitals have insufficient improved sanitation facilities and 8% of hospitals have insufficient water available. - Bed capacity: o Out of 40 hospitals expected to provide intensive care beds, 5 (12.5%) do not have sufficient bed capacity. o Out of 41 hospitals expected to provide maternity beds, 2 (4.9%) do not have sufficient bed capacity. o Out of 52 hospitals expected to provide inpatient beds 4 (7.7%) do not have sufficient bed capacity. o Out of 39 hospitals expected to provide incubators 4 (10.3%) do not have sufficient bed capacity. o Out of 46 hospitals expected to provide ER beds 2 (4.3%) do not have sufficient bed capacity. - Over 40% of essential medicines in public facilities are not available, in part driven by the fiscal crisis. - Health Attacks: Between 7 October 2023 until 15 January 2025, in the West Bank WHO verified 693 attacks that have resulted in 26 fatalities and 123 injuries. The attacks have affected 62 health facilities, including 22 mobile clinics and 475 ambulances. During these attacks there were 522 incidents involving obstruction to health care delivery, 344 incidents involved use of force, 100 incidents involved detention and 133 incidents involved a militarized search. *************** Tarik Jasarevic, WHO Spokesperson Access to healthcare continues to be severely constrained: 39% of health facilities were reported as destroyed or non-functioning. Health facilities lack medicines and medical supplies, and vaccination activities are very limited in the most affected areas. Findings in Khartoum are particularly stark: around 90% of health facilities are not functional. MSF has suspended medical activities at Bashair hospital (one of the last functioning hospitals in South Khartoum) following repeated attacks on staff and patients. • Cholera, malaria, dengue and measles have been reported in over 12 states. Over 50 568 cholera cases and 1,200 deaths have been reported. • Attacks on healthcare: Since April 2023: 141 attacks; 240 deaths, 216 injuries Since January 2024: 77 attacks; 202 deaths, 171 injuries WHO is leading the health emergency response, delivering over 1,5 metric tons of medical supplies, supporting nutrition stabilization centers, ensuring immunization against cholera and polio, and monitoring and containing disease outbreaks through cross-border and crossline operations, including supplies from Chad, WHO has reached hard-to-access areas, deployed mobile clinics, and trained specialists in mental health care. Background ● Access to healthcare continues to be severely constrained due to insecurity, attacks on health care, shortage of medicines and medical supplies, health personnel and cash to cover health facilities’ operational cost. ● People are dying from a lack of access to basic and essential healthcare and medication. According to HeRAMS report released in December 2024, 38% of hospitals are non-functional and 62% partially functional in 7 states and Abyei PCM. ● Critical services, including maternal and child health care, the management of severe acute malnutrition, and the treatment of patients with chronic conditions, have been discontinued in many areas at a time when they are needed the most. Across Sudan, women are dying from pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications. ● Displacement, food insecurity, disease outbreaks and the inability to access care for chronic conditions and maternal and newborn health needs continue to lead to morbidity and mortality in the population. ● Many areas in the country remain largely inaccessible to humanitarian actors. Insecurity, bureaucratic hurdles and logistical challenges have restricted WHO’s and partners’ capacity to provide direct assistance to health facilities in Darfur, Khartoum, Al Jazirah, Sennar and the Kordofans. Outbreaks ● Reports of cholera, measles, malaria, dengue, meningitis are being received from several states: ○ Measles: 798 cases and 10 deaths reported from 12 states (CFR 1.25%). ○ Dengue: 8,852 cases and 15 associated deaths reported from 8 states during weeks 31-48, (CFR 0.2%). ○ Malaria: 2.4 million clinical malaria cases and 122 deaths from 15 states (0.2%) since 4 September 2023. ○ Lack of access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in IDP gathering sites, heavy rains and flooding, and a breakdown of the health system resulting in a severe lack of access to health care led to the rapid increase in cases and the rise in deaths from this outbreak. ○ As of 13 January: 51,203 cases and 1,356 associated deaths with a high CFR of 2.6% were reported from 84 localities in 11 states. Response to the cholera outbreak: ● WHO is working closely with Federal and State Ministries of Health to coordinate the cholera outbreak response. ● With GAVI support, WHO and UNICEF are supporting the FMOH in oral cholera vaccination campaigns. WHO is providing technical, operational, and financial support to the campaigns. ● Additional 2.3 million doses of OCV have been requested from the ICG. ● WHO had prepositioned cholera kits and other essential medical supplies in high-risk states in anticipation of the risks associated with the rainy season. These supplies are helping jump-start the outbreak response in all affected states, including in states like Khartoum and Al Jazirah that are difficult to access due to security concerns. ● To strengthen case management, WHO set up 12 cholera treatment units (CTU), and 48 oral rehydration points (ORPs) in health facilities and communities to distribute ORS to mild to moderate dehydrated patients. We are also helping strengthen surveillance and response through the deployment of rapid response teams and the use of EWARS. NOTE: RECORDING OF UN Geneva Press Briefing - 17 January 2025  Media contact:  You are receiving this NO-REPLY email because you are included on a WHO mail list.  |
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