Majority of medical equipment supplies at ‘stock zero’ in Gaza, says WHO
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WHO regional director Hanan Balkhy and her team visiting warehouses stocked with aid supplies bound for Gaza in Egypt, on March 17.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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GENEVA – The majority of supplies of medical equipment have run out in Gaza, while 42 per cent of basic medicines, including painkillers, are out of stock, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on May 26.
“We are at stock zero of close to 64 per cent of medical equipment and stock zero of 43 per cent of essential medicines and 42 per cent of vaccines,” Dr Hanan Balkhy, the WHO’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, told reporters in Geneva.
Dr Balkhy said the WHO has 51 aid trucks waiting on the Gaza border that have not yet had clearance to enter the Palestinian enclave, where Israel last week slightly eased a total blockade on aid imposed
“Can you imagine a surgeon (fixing) a broken bone with no anaesthesia? IV (intravenous) fluids, needles, bandages – they do not exist in the quantities that are required,” she said, adding that basic medications such as antibiotics, painkillers and drugs for chronic diseases were in short supply.
After an 11-week blockade, Israel – at war with Gaza’s dominant militant group Hamas since October 2023 – allowed 100 aid trucks carrying flour, baby food and medical equipment into the Gaza Strip on May 21, none of them from the WHO.
Amid ongoing shortages of medical equipment, the WHO confirmed that it would not take part in an alternative, US-backed plan to distribute aid, proposed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
The UN has said the foundation is not impartial and its work could cause further displacement of civilians, exposing thousands to harm.
The GHF previously told Reuters that its plan would enable aid to be delivered to people in need, without diversion to Hamas militants or criminal gangs.
Israel stopped all aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2 after accusing Hamas of stealing aid, which it denied, and demanding the release of all remaining hostages taken during Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel. REUTERS
