WHO: Gaza's health system must be protected as disease spreads

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday called for Gaza's vulnerable health infrastructure to be safeguarded as the enclave faces an increased risk of epidemics and challenges in detecting infectious diseases.

Speaking at a press conference in Geneva, the WHO's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said only 15 of Gaza's 36 hospitals were still functioning and they were completely overwhelmed.

The WHO has sounded the alarm about the spread of infectious disease in Gaza, where the internal displacement of the population has caused overcrowding in shelters and other temporary living facilities.

The agency has noted a staggering increase in cases of diarrhoea, especially among infants and children, and detected "very serious signals around acute jaundice syndrome" in the enclave.

"With severe overcrowding, the risks are increasing for epidemics of respiratory tract infections, acute watery diarrhoea, hepatitis, scabies, lice and other diseases," Ghebreyesus said.

Mike Ryan, head of the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, said the detection of infectious diseases in Gaza had become more complicated given that samples could no longer be sent to Israel or the West Bank for processing.

"Not only has Gaza lost its hospital capability, it has lost its ability to confirm even the most basic of diseases," he said. "This creates a blindspot where we have huge risk of epidemic diseases."