Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern at Gaza's "crippled" health system, weeks after the Israeli aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip.
Ghebreyesus said during his opening remarks at a media briefing in Geneva that Only 15 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are still functioning at all, but are completely overwhelmed.
Of the 25 hospitals north of Gaza, only three are functioning at the most basic level, but they lack fuel, water and food, he said.
WHO Director-General said the pause has enabled WHO to increase deliveries of medical supplies in Gaza and to transfer patients from Al-Shifa Hospital to other hospitals south of Gaza
During the first three days of the pause, WHO received 121 pallets of supplies into its warehouse in Gaza, including IV fluids, medicines, lab supplies, medical disposables, and trauma and surgical supplies, he noted.
He stressed that WHO's greatest concern remains supporting Gaza's health system and health workers to function.
For his part, WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Richard Peeperkorn expressed concerned about the vulnerability of the health system in Gaza. He said Gaza had 3,500 hospital beds before the Israeli aggression but only 1,500 were still available and the bed capacity needed to be expanded immediately, within those hospitals still functioning.
"We estimate there's a need of 5,000 beds so we really have a long way to go," he said stressing that any resumption of war could damage the health facilities and make more health facilities dysfunctional. Gaza can absolutely not afford to lose more hospital beds, he added.
