Ramallah – Ma’an – Today, Monday, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics issued a press release on the occasion of World Health Day.

The blockade authority said that on the occasion of World Health Day, which falls on April 7, 2024, we must remember that health is a basic right for every human being, and that the international community and the entire world are obligated to provide the necessary conditions to preserve this right. In light of the continuation of the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, the ongoing violation of human rights, including the right to health, and the occupying state’s efforts to erase all aspects of life there, the residents of the Gaza Strip are facing unprecedented catastrophic conditions.

Collapse of the health system

. The agency pointed out that the Israeli aggression, the ongoing siege on the Gaza Strip, the lack of medical supplies, food, water, and fuel, and the exposure of medical workers to continuous attacks and targeting, have led to the exhaustion of the health sy
stem. Since October 7, the World Health Organization has documented more than 600 attacks on health facilities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These attacks have caused many hospitals and health centers to stop working. Out of 36 operating hospitals in the Gaza Strip, only 10 hospitals are partially operating (4 in In the north of the sector, 6 in the south and center), 76% of primary health care centers have stopped. In the West Bank, 286 attacks on health care prevented the provision of care, including the provision of essential medicines and equipment, closed hospitals, and prevented ambulance access.

The agency indicated that hospitals in the Gaza Strip are operating far beyond their capacity, with the remaining hospitals operating at 359% of their capacity, which hinders the quality and safety of health services provided, due to the high number of wounded, as the number of wounded reached more than 75,000 as of March 27. The aggression also led to the martyrdom of 489 medical staff and specialists and
the injury of 600 others, in addition to the arrest of more than 310, and the destruction of more than 126 ambulances and their out of service, according to the report issued by the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip until April 4.

There are approximately 350,000 patients with chronic diseases in the Gaza Strip who were deprived of receiving the necessary health care, including about 71,000 people with diabetes, 225,000 people with high blood pressure, and 45,000 people with cardiovascular diseases, in addition to those suffering from cancer, kidney diseases, and Other. The lack of basic medicines, medical supplies and supplies, and the closure of health care facilities directly hinder the possibility of obtaining the minimum health services for survival, in addition to the closure of the only cancer hospital specialized in treating cancer patients, and the psychiatric hospital in the Gaza Strip.

At least 31 deaths due to malnutrition and dehydration, including 28 children.

The statistics agency explaine
d: The spread of malnutrition is accelerating in a frightening manner and is reaching devastating levels in the Gaza Strip due to the severe levels of food insecurity and the spread of diseases resulting from the Israeli aggression against the Strip since October 7, 2023. The Israeli occupation closed all crossings leading to the Gaza Strip and prevented aid trucks from entering the Gaza Strip, especially to the Gaza and North Gaza governorates. According to a study conducted by UNICEF with a group of partners last February, it was found that about 31% of children under the age of two years in northern Gaza suffer from acute malnutrition, and this percentage has doubled in just one month, as it was about 16% in January. While the percentage among children under five years of age increased from 13% to 25% during the period January-February in the northern Gaza Strip. The study also showed that about 5% of children under two years of age suffer from acute wasting in the northern Gaza Strip, which is considered
the most serious form of malnutrition. It places children at the highest risk of medical consequences and death unless they receive urgent therapeutic feeding. Before the aggression on the Gaza Strip, the rate of wasting among children under two years old was 0.6%, according to the Palestinian Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2019-2020.

As for the governorates of Rafah and Khan Yunis, which have greater access to aid, malnutrition rates reached about 10% and 28%, respectively, among children under two years of age.

The ‘Integrated Phase Classification of Food Security’ (IPC) report, prepared by United Nations institutions, showed that about 2.13 million people in the Gaza Strip face high levels of acute food insecurity classified as stage 3 or higher (crisis or worse) among 15 February and March 15, and approximately 677,000 people suffer from catastrophic food insecurity (Phase 5).

The report also indicated that, according to estimates, it is expected that 1.1 million people in the Gaza Strip, or about h
alf of the population of the Gaza Strip, will suffer from catastrophic food insecurity, and that famine is imminent in the northern Gaza Strip and the affiliated governorates and is expected to occur in the period between now and the month of May.

More than 90% of children under five years old were infected with at least one infectious disease.

The statistics agency said: Conditions have deteriorated throughout the Gaza Strip due to the collapse of systems, and the increase in the spread of infectious diseases and epidemics is attributed to overcrowding in places of displacement, limited access to clean water and insufficient water. Poor sanitation, low dietary diversity, lack of basic hygiene supplies, disruption of vaccine programs for preventable diseases, and disruption of the health care system due to Israeli aggression.

In a UNICEF study on the nutritional situation in the Gaza Strip in light of the Israeli aggression, which was prepared in February, it was found that more than 90% of children under
five years old had contracted at least one infectious disease during the two weeks preceding the survey. In the same context, World Health Organization reports indicated that more than 640,000 cases of acute respiratory infections were recorded, and approximately 346,000 cases of diarrhea, including 105,635 among children under the age of five. Furthermore, additional signs of epidemics such as jaundice, chicken pox, and skin diseases have been detected. The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip indicated in a previous report issued in March that more than 31,348 cases of hepatitis A infection had been recorded.

High incidence of miscarriages, premature births

and births: More than 540,000 women of childbearing age in the Gaza Strip, and it is estimated that more than 5,000 births take place monthly. According to the data of the Palestinian Multiple Indicator Survey 2019-2020, about a quarter of births in the Gaza Strip take place by caesarean section and in light of the inability to obtain health care, incl
uding reproductive health services and performing operations without basic medical supplies or anesthesia and without any other care. After giving birth, the lives of pregnant women are at risk and their chances of exposure to complications during pregnancy or childbirth increase, which may lead to an increase in maternal mortality. Reports of the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip also indicated that hundreds of cases of miscarriage and premature birth were recorded as a result of panic and forced flight. From another angle, the increasing food insecurity and malnutrition among the population of the Gaza Strip prevent mothers from being able to eat appropriate nutrition and breastfeed their newborns. Limited access to clean water, sanitation facilities, and hygiene products contributes to exposing women and children to various diseases and threatens their lives.

Source: Maan News Agency