Archiv: World Health Organization / Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO)


06.11.2024 - 13:31 [ United Nations ]

Strikes in Gaza, Lebanon, as aid teams support ‘overwhelmed’ burns centre

Victims from airstrikes in Lebanon “overwhelmed the hospital”, the WHO official explained, insisting that it was critical to continue supporting “the only burns centre that’s available in the country. Off the 40 burns patients treated so far “25 per cent of them are children”, he said.

Initially equipped with 10 beds, the Geitaoui Hospital burns centre has had to expand to 25 beds, providing critical care to severely injured patients.

There are enough new trauma kits to treat 50 patients twice; each kit has two modules, one containing medications and other supplies, the other specialist burns treatments and dressings.

Expressing solidarity with Lebanon’s health professionals, the top UN aid coordinator in the country condemned ongoing military targeting of medical personnel and infrastructure, including ambulances which are “very much under attack”.

“We need to be supporting them with supplies, we need to be supporting them also need with advocacy,” said Imran Riza, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon. “There have been great violations of international humanitarian law that we are seeing. So, we need to make sure these are not happening, that health care workers can do what they‘re there for, helping people and saving lives.”

25.10.2024 - 14:15 [ BastillePost.com ]

Conflict forces closure of one-third health facilities in Lebanon

In the past year, Lebanese medical and health institutions have been attacked 53 times, with 99 patients and staff members killed, according to the WHO.

And due to the deterioration of water and sanitation conditions, a case of cholera was reported in northern Lebanon.

The WHO urged relevant parties to take immediate action to protect Lebanon‘s medical system.

18.10.2024 - 21:11 [ International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) ]

Six Medical Aid Organisations Banned by Israel from Entering Gaza

Six medical humanitarian groups, whose emergency medical missions in Gaza have collectively treated over 15,000 patients since October 2023 have been informed this week that their medical missions will hereafter be denied entry into Gaza.

The notice was delivered to these organisations via text message from the World Health Organisation (WHO) following an order issued by the Israeli military via Israel’s ‘Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories’ (COGAT). The reasons behind Israel’s order remain unclear; no information has been provided on the reason or process behind the order to halt life-saving medical missions to Gaza.

This is a death sentence for thousands of patients in Gaza.

03.10.2024 - 19:59 [ Anadolu ]

Death toll from Israeli assaults on Lebanon since last Oct. 8 reaches nearly 2,000: Health minister

The Lebanese health minister announced on Wednesday that the death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon has risen to 1,974, with another 9,384 injured since Oct. 8 of last year.

Firas Alabiad said at a press conference in Beirut that the Israeli onslaught has also claimed the lives of 127 children.

Israeli airstrikes have killed 40 staffers of medical and emergency teams, in addition to damaging dozens of healthcare facilities, he added.

03.10.2024 - 18:59 [ Middle East Eye ]

WHO chief says 28 health workers killed by Israel in Lebanon in 24 hours

The director of the World Health Organisation Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference on Thursday that 28 health workers were killed in Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours in Lebanon.

„Many (other) health workers are not reporting to duty and fled the areas where they work due to bombardments,“ Ghebreyesus said in an online press briefing. „This is severely limiting the provision of mass trauma management and continuity of health services.“

03.10.2024 - 18:58 [ Reuters ]

Dozens of health workers killed in Lebanon over past day, WHO says

WHO‘s representative in Lebanon Dr Abdinasir Abubakar told the briefing that all of the healthcare workers killed in the past day had been on duty, helping with the wounded.
A total of nearly 2,000 people have been killed, including 127 children, and 9,384 injured since the start of Israeli attacks on Lebanon over the last year, the country‘s health ministry said. The WHO said this included 73 healthcare workers.

13.09.2024 - 16:20 [ Middle East Monitor ]

WHO: 25% of Gaza wounded suffer ‚life-changing injuries‘

At least a quarter of Palestinians wounded in Israel’s war on the besieged Gaza Strip have suffered “life-changing injuries”, with many requiring amputations and other “huge” rehabilitation needs, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

In a statement issued yesterday, the WHO explained that at least 22,500 of the people injured in Gaza in the 11 months since the war erupted will “require rehabilitation services now and for years to come.”

13.09.2024 - 16:01 [ World Health Organization (WHO) ]

WHO analysis highlights vast unmet rehabilitation needs in Gaza

At least one quarter or 22 500 of those injured in Gaza by 23 July are estimated to have life-changing injuries that require rehabilitation services now and for years to come, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) analysis of the types of injuries resulting from the ongoing conflict in Gaza: Estimating Trauma Rehabilitation Needs in Gaza using Injury Data from Emergency Medical Teams.

04.05.2024 - 06:50 [ Tagesschau.de ]

WHO warnt vor „Blutbad“ in Rafah

Israels Regierungschef Benjamin Netanyahu hatte kürzlich erklärt, die israelische Armee werde ungeachtet der internationalen Kritik und unabhängig von einer möglichen Einigung auf ein Abkommen über eine Waffenruhe im Gazastreifen ihre Pläne für eine Bodenoffensive in Rafah umsetzen.

18.03.2024 - 16:26 [ Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization / Twitter ]

Hospitals should never be battlegrounds. We are terribly worried about the situation at Al-Shifa Hospital in northern #Gaza, which is endangering health workers, patients and civilians. The hospital has only recently restored minimal health services. Any hostilities or militarization of the facility jeopardize health services, access for ambulances, and delivery of life-saving supplies. Hospitals must be protected. Ceasefire!

22.02.2024 - 21:50 [ United Nations ]

Gaza has become a ‘death zone’, warns UN health chief

“Gaza has become a death zone,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General told correspondents at a press briefing in Geneva.

“Much of the territory has been destroyed. More than 29,000 people are dead; many more are missing, presumed dead; and many, many more are injured,” he added.

Across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, severe malnutrition has shot up dramatically since the start of the war on 7 October, from under one per cent of the population, to over 15 per cent in some areas.

“This figure will rise the longer the war goes on and supplies [are] interrupted,” Tedros said, expressing deep concern that agencies such as the World Food Programme (WFP) are unable to access the north.

25.01.2024 - 22:10 [ United Nations ]

Nine killed in direct hit on UNRWA shelter in Gaza

While in Gaza, Mr. McGoldrick visited the southern city of Rafah, located on the border with Egypt, and a crossing point for aid into the enclave.

Rafah normally has a population of around 280,000, which has swelled to an estimated 1.2 to 1.4 million as people fleeing fighting elsewhere pack into the city, setting up makeshift shelters and tents in the streets.

The squalid and unsanitary conditions have led to outbreaks of respiratory infections and hepatitis A, both of which had been eradicated in Gaza. Meningitis and other illnesses are also emerging.

The conflict in Gaza has displaced over 75 per cent of the population, with nearly 1.7 million people now living in UNRWA and public emergency shelters as well as informal sites.

22.01.2024 - 14:20 [ United Nations ]

Gaza crisis: Babies being born ‘into hell’ amid desperate aid shortages

(19.01.2024)

“Mothers face unimaginable challenges in accessing adequate medical care, nutrition and protection before, during and after giving birth,” said UNICEF Communications Specialist Tess Ingram.

“Becoming a mother should be a time for celebration. In Gaza, it‘s another child delivered into hell.”

Echoing deep concerns about the deteriorating humanitarian situation, UN World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed alarm that hepatitis A infections had been confirmed in Gaza.

30.12.2023 - 16:45 [ United Nations ]

United Nations Charter (full text)

Article 7

1. There are established as principal organs of the United Nations: a General Assembly, a Security Council, an Economic and Social Council, a Trusteeship Council, an International Court of Justice and a Secretariat.

(…)

Article 94

1. Each Member of the United Nations undertakes to comply with the decision of the International Court of Justice in any case to which it is a party.

2. If any party to a case fails to perform the obligations incumbent upon it under a judgment rendered by the Court, the other party may have recourse to the Security Council, which may, if it deems necessary, make recommendations or decide upon measures to be taken to give effect to the judgment.

(…)

Article 96

– The General Assembly or the Security Council may request the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on any legal question.

Other organs of the United Nations and specialized agencies, which may at any time be so authorized by the General Assembly, may also request advisory opinions of the Court on legal questions arising within the scope of their activities.

22.12.2023 - 22:12 [ jeremy scahill / Twitter ]

This was a pernicious lie that was promoted by Biden and his administration to justify Israel’s attacking of hospitals. Those of us who warned that this was a lie at the time were accused of being Hamas propagandists.

22.12.2023 - 21:58 [ Washington Post ]

The case of al-Shifa: Investigating the assault on Gaza’s largest hospital

The Post’s analysis shows:

– The rooms connected to the tunnel network discovered by IDF troops showed no immediate evidence of military use by Hamas.
– None of the five hospital buildings identified by Hagari appeared to be connected to the tunnel network.
– There is no evidence that the tunnels could be accessed from inside hospital wards.

Hours before IDF troops entered the complex, the Biden administration declassified U.S. intelligence assessments that it said bolstered Israel’s claims. In the aftermath of the raid, Israeli and U.S. officials have stood firm behind their initial statements.

22.12.2023 - 21:52 [ Rolling Stone / Twitter ]

A Washington Post investigation has found no proof of a Hamas command center under al-Shifa Hospital following Israel’s attack on the medical complex

22.12.2023 - 21:44 [ Huffington Post ]

Evidence Doesn‘t Support Israeli Claims That Hospital Was Hamas Command Center: Report

The Israeli raid on al-Shifa Hospital last month, which was preceded by an evacuation order aimed at thousands of people sheltering at the hospital and hundreds of sick patients, produced one of the grisliest scenes in the country’s ground invasion of the Gaza Strip: a “death zone” that included a mass grave at the entrance of the hospital and dozens of desperate patients inside, according to the World Health Organization, whose aid workers arrived at the facility on Nov. 18 as part of a humanitarian mission.

Forty patients, including four premature babies, died in the hospital due to a lack of electricity in the days surrounding the raid, hospital administrators told the United Nations.

18.12.2023 - 17:27 [ World Health Organization ]

WHO delivers health supplies to Al-Shifa Hospital, appeals for continued access to address urgent needs in north Gaza

(17.12.2023)

Once the most important and largest referral hospital in Gaza, Al-Shifa now houses only a handful of doctors and a few nurses, together with 70 volunteers, working under what WHO staff described as “unbelievably challenging circumstances,” and calling it a “hospital in need of resuscitation.” The operating theatres and other major services remain nonfunctional due to lack of fuel, oxygen, specialized medical staff, and supplies. The hospital is only able to provide basic trauma stabilization, has no blood for transfusion, and hardly any staff to care for the constant flow of patients. Dialysis is being provided to approximately 30 patients a day, with the dialysis machines operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, using a small generator.

The team described the emergency department as a “bloodbath”, with hundreds of injured patients inside, and new patients arriving every minute. Patients with trauma injuries were being sutured on the floor, and limited to no pain management is available at the hospital. WHO staff said that the emergency department is so full that care must be exercised to not step on patients on the floor.

18.12.2023 - 16:59 [ United Nations ]

UN workers delivering aid to Gaza hospital describe ‘bloodbath’ in overflowing emergency department

(16.12.2023)

UN workers delivering medical supplies to the Al-Shifa Hospital in north Gaza on 16 December have described the emergency department as a “bloodbath”, with hundreds of injured people inside, and a constant flow of new patients.

18.12.2023 - 16:32 [ Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization / Twitter ]

.@WHO is appalled by the effective destruction of Kamal Adwan hospital in northern #Gaza over the last several days, rendering it non-functional and resulting in the death of at least 8 patients. Many health workers were reportedly detained, and WHO and partners are urgently seeking information on their status.

We learned that many patients had to self-evacuate at great risk to their health and safety, with ambulances unable to reach the facility. Of the deceased patients, several died due to lack of adequate health care, including a 9-year-old child.

We are extremely concerned for the well-being of the internally displaced people who are reportedly sheltering in the hospital building.

Gaza’s health system was already on its knees, and the loss of another even minimally functioning hospital is a severe blow.

Attacks on hospitals, health personnel and patients must end. Ceasefire NOW.

12.12.2023 - 16:42 [ World Health Organization ]

WHO calls for protection of humanitarian space in Gaza following serious incidents in high-risk mission to transfer patients, deliver health supplies

On 9 December 2023, a WHO team, in collaboration with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and with support from the United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS), completed a high-risk mission to Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City to deliver medical supplies, assess the situation in the hospital, and transfer critically-injured patients to a hospital in the south. The mission delivered trauma and surgical supplies, enough to treat 1500 patients, to the hospital, and transferred 19 critical patients with 14 companions to Nasser Medical Complex in south Gaza, where they can receive a higher level of care.

On the way north, the UN convoy was inspected at the Wadi Gaza checkpoint, and ambulance crew members had to leave the vehicles for identification. Two PRCS staff were detained for over an hour, further delaying the mission. WHO staff saw one of them being made to kneel at gunpoint and then taken out of sight, where he was reportedly harassed, beaten, stripped and searched.

12.12.2023 - 16:35 [ United Nations ]

‘Humanitarian disaster zone’: Gaza hospital capacity decimated – WHO

The last barely functioning hospital in northern Gaza is a “humanitarian disaster zone”, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, highlighting the disastrous consequences of ongoing Israeli bombardment for critically ill and injured civilians across the enclave.

06.12.2023 - 06:10 [ World Health Organization / Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) ]

WHO appeals for protection of the health system from further attacks and degradation of its capacity

(04.12.2023)

We have seen what happened in northern Gaza. This cannot be the blueprint for the south. Gaza cannot afford to lose another hospital as health needs continue to soar.

As more civilians in southern Gaza receive immediate evacuation orders and are forced to move, more people are being concentrated into smaller areas, while the remaining hospitals in those areas run without sufficient fuel, medicines, food, water, or protection of health workers.

06.12.2023 - 06:02 [ United Nations ]

Desperation intensifies in Gaza amid uncertainty of ‘safe zones’

Speaking from the southern city of Rafah, Dr. Rick Peeperkorn, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, described further bloodshed after the resumption of Israeli bombing last Friday.

“The situation is getting worse by the hour,” Dr. Peeperkorn told journalists in Geneva via video link. “I mean…there’s intensified bombing going on all around and including here in the southern areas, Khan Younis and even in Rafah.”

28.11.2023 - 07:55 [ Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization / Twitter ]

In the past days, the sound of war has quieted, giving millions of children and adults the chance to look to the sky without fear of rockets streaking their way. I add my support for this desperately needed respite in the conflict in #Gaza to continue.

(15 hours ago)

20.11.2023 - 02:17 [ World Health Organization / Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) ]

WHO-led joint UN and Red Crescent mission evacuates 31 infants from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza

(19 November 2023)

The evacuation, which was requested by health workers and patients during the joint mission yesterday, became necessary as Al-Shifa Hospital is no longer able to function due to a lack of clean water, fuel, medical supplies, food, other essential items and the intense hostilities. WHO remains deeply concerned about the safety and health needs of patients and health workers who remain at Al-Shifa Hospital, and in the few partially functional hospitals in the north that face imminent closure.

Al-Shifa Hospital, previously the largest and most advanced referral hospital in Gaza, together with other hospitals, must be fully restored to provide urgently needed health services in Gaza

20.11.2023 - 01:20 [ World Health Organization / Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) ]

WHO leads very high-risk joint humanitarian mission to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza

(18 November 2023)

Earlier in the day, the IDF had issued evacuation orders to the remaining 2500 internally displaced people who had been seeking refuge on the hospital grounds. They, along with a number of mobile patients and hospital staff, had already vacated the facility by the time of the team‘s arrival.

Due to time limits associated with the security situation, the team was able to spend only one hour inside the hospital, which they described as a “death zone,” and the situation as “desperate.” Signs of shelling and gunfire were evident. The team saw a mass grave at the entrance of the hospital and was told more than 80 people were buried there.

Lack of clean water, fuel, medicines, food and other essential aid over the last 6 weeks
have caused Al-Shifa Hospital – once the largest, most advanced and best equipped referral hospital in Gaza – to essentially stop functioning as a medical facility. The team observed that due to the security situation, it has been impossible for the staff to carry out effective waste management in the hospital. Corridors and the hospital grounds were filled with medical and solid waste, increasing the risk of infection. Patients and health staff with whom they spoke were terrified for their safety and health, and pleaded for evacuation.

20.11.2023 - 01:06 [ Mehdi Hasan, @mehdihasanshow on @MSNBC & NBC's @peacockTV / Twitter ]

The WHO team visiting the Shifa hospital described it as a „death zone“.

12.11.2023 - 04:29 [ Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization / Twitter ]

Deeply worrisome and frightening: @WHO has lost contact with its focal points in Al-Shifa Hospital in #Gaza, amid horrifying reports of the hospital facing repeated attacks. There are reports that some of those who fled the hospital have been shot at, wounded, or killed. The latest reports say the hospital was surrounded by tanks.

(2 hours ago)

WHO is gravely concerned about the safety of health workers, hundreds of sick and injured patients, including babies on life support, and displaced people who remain inside the hospital.

WHO again calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza as the only way to save lives and reduce the horrific levels of suffering.

12.11.2023 - 04:21 [ WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean / Twitter ]

.@WHO has lost communication with its contacts in Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza. As horrifying reports of the hospital facing repeated attacks continue to emerge, we assume our contacts joined tens of thousands of displaced people and are fleeing the area.

(2 hours ago)

There are reports that some people who fled the hospital have been shot at, wounded and even killed.

Over the past 48 hours, Al-Shifa Hospital–which is the largest medical complex in Gaza–has been reportedly attacked multiple times, leaving several people dead and many others injured.

The intensive care unit suffered damage from bombardment, while areas of the hospital where displaced people were sheltering have also been damaged. An intubated patient reportedly died when electricity was at one point cut.

The last reports said that the hospital was surrounded by tanks.

06.11.2023 - 21:50 [ reliefweb.int ]

Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, on the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, „We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire“

Signatories:

– Mr. Martin Griffiths, Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
– Ms. Sofia Sprechmann Sineiro, Secretary General, CARE International
. Ms. Jane Backhurst, Chair of ICVA Board (Christian Aid)
– Mr. Jamie Munn, Executive Director, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)
– Ms. Anne Goddard, Chief Executive Officer and President a.i., InterAction
– Ms. Amy E. Pope, Director General, International Organization for Migration (IOM)
– Ms. Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, Chief Executive Officer, Mercy Corps
– Mr. Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
– Ms. Janti Soeripto, President and Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children
– Ms. Paula Gaviria Betancur, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (SR on HR of IDPs)
– Mr. Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
– Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
– Mr. Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
– Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat)
– Ms. Catherine Russell, Executive Director, United Nations Children‘s Fund (UNICEF)
– Ms. Sima Bahous, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women
– Ms. Cindy McCain, Executive Director, World Food Programme (WFP)
– Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO)

04.11.2023 - 00:09 [ Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization / Twitter ]

Utterly shocked by reports of attacks on ambulances evacuating patients close to Al-Shifa hospital in #Gaza, leading to deaths, injuries and damage. We reiterate: patients, health workers, facilities, and ambulances must be protected at all times. Always. Ceasefire NOW. #NotATarget

(5 hours ago)

30.10.2023 - 18:02 [ United Nations ]

Gaza hospitals hanging on by a thread: UN humanitarians

The vicinities of Shifa and Al Quds hospitals in Gaza city and of the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza, have been bombarded over the weekend, UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA said.

This followed renewed calls by the Israeli military to evacuate these facilities immediately,” OCHA added.

“Palestinian and Israeli civilians have suffered enough”, UN relief chief Martin Griffiths wrote on social platform X on Monday. He revealed that he is in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory and “will be discussing with the leadership of both parties how we can ramp up the humanitarian response”.

30.10.2023 - 03:54 [ WHO.int ]

WHO: civilians, patients, and health workers in Gaza spend night in darkness and fear

(28.10.2023)

Reports of bombardment near the Indonesia and Al Shifa hospitals are gravely concerning. WHO reiterates that it is impossible to evacuate patients without endangering their lives. Hospitals across Gaza are already operating at maximum capacity due to the injuries sustained in weeks of unrelenting bombardment, and are unable to absorb a dramatic rise in the number of patients, while sheltering thousands of civilians.

27.10.2023 - 21:12 [ Associated Press ]

What is Gaza’s Ministry of Health and how does it calculate the war’s death toll?

The United Nations and other international institutions and experts, as well as Palestinian authorities in the West Bank — rivals of Hamas — say the Gaza ministry has long made a good-faith effort to account for the dead under the most difficult conditions.

“The numbers may not be perfectly accurate on a minute-to-minute basis,” said Michael Ryan, of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Program. “But they largely reflect the level of death and injury.”

19.10.2023 - 09:11 [ Nesma Allam / Twitter ]

Till now the aids don‘t arrive Gaza,rafah crossing is still closed , only the volunteers have set up tents and waiting for crossing

(today)

18.10.2023 - 14:55 [ Mohamed shohood / Twitter ]

A senior Egyptian official, in response to Netanyahu‘s statements about keeping the Rafah crossing closed, informed AlQahera News Channel that Egypt will not permit the evacuation of foreigners from the Gaza Strip.