War in the Middle East
Diseases continue to spread in the Gaza Strip
Refugees live in tents in the city of Rafah, near the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. photo
© Uncredited/AP/dpa
Tens of thousands of displaced people are stuck in a confined space in the Gaza Strip. This also has consequences for health. According to the WHO, cases of respiratory infections, diarrhea, lice and scabies are increasing.
In the temporary accommodations in According to the UN emergency agency OCHA, diseases in the Gaza Strip with tens of thousands of displaced people in a small area continue to increase. Health services have long been overwhelmed, and new expulsions ordered by Israel are making their task even more difficult.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, listed the cases of the disease on the online platform X, formerly Twitter. Afterwards, 180,000 people suffered from respiratory infections and more than 136,000 children under five years old suffered from diarrhea. There are more than 55,000 cases of lice and scabies.
Diarrhea is life-threatening for children under five if left untreated because the body loses water and important minerals.
According to OCHA, the UN Children’s Fund delivered 600,000 vaccine doses to the Gaza Strip on Friday. This means that small children will receive their routine vaccinations next year despite the war. These include, for example, vaccinations against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough.