WHO: Gaza health crisis will last for 'generations'

2025-10-22 07:40:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Gaza is experiencing a health "catastrophe" that will last for "generations to come," the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a massive increase in aid is needed to begin addressing the complex needs of the Gaza population.

Israel has allowed more medical supplies and other aid to pass into Gaza since a ceasefire with Hamas took effect on October 10, but Dr. Tedros said the levels are below what is needed to rebuild the territory's health care system. His intervention comes as the U.S. tries to uphold the ceasefire it helped broker after an outbreak of violence over the weekend.

The agreement has been described by the White House as the first phase of a 20-point peace plan that includes an increase in the amount of aid entering Gaza and supplies distributed "without interference" by either side.

Dr. Tedros said he welcomed the ceasefire agreement but said the subsequent increase in aid has been smaller than expected. Asked about the situation on the ground, he said Gazans had experienced hunger, "devastating" injuries, a collapsed health care system and disease outbreaks fueled by the destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure.

He continued: "Moreover, there is limited access to humanitarian aid. This is a very fatal combination, so it makes the situation catastrophic and indescribable in words."

Asked about the long-term health prospects in Gaza, he added: "If you take the hunger and combine it with a mental health problem that we see being widespread, then the situation is a crisis for generations to come."

Tom Fletcher, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said earlier this week that aid groups are turning the tide of the hunger crisis, but that more is needed.

On Tuesday, the UN World Food Programme said trucks carrying more than 6,700 tonnes of food had arrived since October 10, but that figure was still significantly below its target of 2,000 tonnes per day.

Six hundred aid trucks a day should arrive in Gaza, but the average is between 200 and 300, Dr. Tedros said, while calling on Israeli authorities to "decouple" aid from the conflict in general./ CNA, translated by BBC