Latest news with #MedecinsSansFrontieres
Time of India
08-07-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Doctors alarmed at rising meningitis cases in Gaza's children
Geneva/Gaza: In a ward of Nasser hospital in southern Gaza a woman is comforting her crying, 16-month-old granddaughter, one of those affected by what aid workers say is a surge of meningitis cases among the Palestinian territory's children. "Sham's temperature suddenly spiked and she became stiff," said the grandmother, Umm Yasmin. "We couldn't find a car to carry her ... She was about to die." The World Health Organization and medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres warn that conditions in Gaza after 21 months of war between Israel and Hamas have increased the risks of meningitis spreading, though they lack clear comparative data to measure the severity of recent outbreaks. "There's been a rise in meningitis cases in children," said Dr Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. "We are very concerned." Typically, there is a seasonal increase in viral meningitis cases in Gaza between June and August, but the WHO is investigating the role of additional factors such as poor sanitation, limited access to healthcare, and disruption of routine vaccinations. Those hospitals still operating are overwhelmed, with beds full and severe shortages of vital antibiotics. "There is no space in the hospitals," Dr Mohammed Abu Mughaisib, deputy medical coordinator for MSF in Gaza. "There is no space to isolate." Airborne and life-threatening bacterial meningitis can spread in overcrowded tents, according to the WHO. Viral meningitis, though less serious, often spreads through the fecal-oral route, meaning it can easily spread in shelters with poor sanitation, the WHO says. At the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Dr Ahmad al-Farra, head of the Paediatrics and Maternity Department, reported nearly 40 cases of newly admitted viral and bacterial meningitis in the last week. In Gaza City to the north, the Paediatrics Department at the Rantisi Children's Hospital has recorded hundreds of cases in recent weeks, according to a report published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Abu Mughaisib said a lack of lab tests and blood cultures that can help identify the bacteria causing infections was hampering diagnoses. DISPLACEMENT Nearly all Gaza's population of more than 2 million has been displaced by the war, which began in October 2023 when Hamas-led fighters stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health authorities, triggered a hunger crisis, and left much of the territory in ruins. More than 80% of Gaza is now an Israeli-militarized zone or subject to displacement orders, according to the United Nations. Umm Yasmin said her daughter had contracted meningitis for the second time since being displaced. "The tents that we live in ... animals cannot live in them," she said. Doctors warn that vitamin deficiencies and weakened immunity- resulting from limited access to fresh vegetables and protein-are increasing children's vulnerability. The destruction of the sewage system and dirty water caused meningitis to spread, said Nasser hospital's Farra. On May 19, Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza, but assistance since then has been limited. Supplies have been channelled through a controversial U.S.-and Israeli-backed group, bypassing the U.N.-led system. The WHO has called for more antibiotics to be allowed into the enclave to treat patients.
Arab News
03-07-2025
- Health
- Arab News
Darfur civilians ‘face mass atrocities and ethnic violence'
KHARTOUM: Civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan face mass atrocities and ethnic violence in the civil war between the regular army and its paramilitary rivals, the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres warned on Thursday. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have sought to consolidate their power in Darfur since losing control of the capital Khartoum in March. Their predecessor, the Janjaweed militia, was accused of genocide in Darfur two decades ago. The paramilitaries have intensified attacks on El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state which they have besieged since May 2024 in an effort to push the army out of its final stronghold in the region. 'People are not only caught in indiscriminate heavy fighting ... but also actively targeted by the Rapid Support Forces and their allies, notably on the basis of their ethnicity,' said Michel-Olivier Lacharite, Medecins Sans Frontieres' head of emergencies. There were 'threats of a full-blown assault,' on El-Fasher, which is home to hundreds of thousands of people largely cut off from food and water supplies and deprived of access to medical care, he said.
Channel 4
02-06-2025
- Health
- Channel 4
Timeline: How Gaza aid attack which killed 31 people happened
Health officials in Gaza say at least three more Palestinians have been killed and dozens wounded near an aid distribution point operated by a US-backed group. At least 31 people were reportedly killed on Sunday as they tried to get food near the same site in Rafah. Survivors told the Medecins Sans Frontieres aid agency that they were shot from all sides by drones, helicopters, boats, tanks and Israeli soldiers. Israel's military denied firing at people gathering to collect aid. Producers: Zahra Warsame and Yousef Hammash Editor: Sophie Larkin Graphics: Sam Wapples
North Wales Chronicle
28-05-2025
- Health
- North Wales Chronicle
New cholera outbreak in Sudan kills more than 170 people in a week
The bulk of the cases were reported in the capital Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman, but cholera was also detected in the provinces of North Kordofan, Sennar, Gazira, White Nile and Nile River, health officials said. Leading medical group Doctors Without Borders — also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF — warned that the country's existing health facilities were unable to cope with the surge of patients. According to Joyce Bakker, Sudan co-ordinator for MSF, the alarming spike began in mid-May, with the organisation's teams treating almost 2,000 suspected cholera cases in the past week alone. On Saturday, Sudan's health minister Haitham Ibrahim said the increase in cholera cases just in the Khartoum region had been estimated to average 600 to 700 per week over the past four weeks. Ms Bakker said MSF's treatment centres in Omdurman were overwhelmed and that the 'scenes are disturbing'. 'Many patients are arriving too late to be saved,' she said. 'We don't know the true scale of the outbreak, and our teams can only see a fraction of the full picture.' She called for a united response, including water, sanitation and hygiene programmes and more treatment facilities. In March, MSF said that 92 people had died of cholera in Sudan's White Nile State, where 2,700 people had contracted the disease since late February. The World Health Organisation said that the water-borne disease was a fast-developing and highly contagious infection that caused diarrhoea and led to severe dehydration and possible death within hours when not treated. The disease was transmitted through the ingestion of contaminated food or water. The outbreak is the latest crisis for Sudan, which was plunged into a war more than two years ago, when tensions between the Sudanese army and its rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces group, or RSF, exploded with street battles in Khartoum that quickly spread across the country. Since then, at least 20,000 people have been reported to have been killed, although the number is likely to be far higher, and more than 14 million have been displaced and forced from their homes. Sudan has also been engulfed by what the United Nations says is the world's largest humanitarian crisis, and disease outbreaks, famine and atrocities have mounted as the African country entered its third year of war. Last week, the Sudanese military said it had regained control of the Greater Khartoum area from the paramilitary forces. Mr Ibrahim, the health minister, attributed the cholera surge to the return of many Sudanese to the Khartoum region — people who had fled their homes to escape the fighting and were now coming back. Their returns had strained the city's dwindling water resources, he said.
Leader Live
27-05-2025
- Health
- Leader Live
New cholera outbreak in Sudan kills more than 170 people in a week
The bulk of the cases were reported in the capital Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman, but cholera was also detected in the provinces of North Kordofan, Sennar, Gazira, White Nile and Nile River, health officials said. Leading medical group Doctors Without Borders — also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF — warned that the country's existing health facilities were unable to cope with the surge of patients. According to Joyce Bakker, Sudan co-ordinator for MSF, the alarming spike began in mid-May, with the organisation's teams treating almost 2,000 suspected cholera cases in the past week alone. On Saturday, Sudan's health minister Haitham Ibrahim said the increase in cholera cases just in the Khartoum region had been estimated to average 600 to 700 per week over the past four weeks. Ms Bakker said MSF's treatment centres in Omdurman were overwhelmed and that the 'scenes are disturbing'. 'Many patients are arriving too late to be saved,' she said. 'We don't know the true scale of the outbreak, and our teams can only see a fraction of the full picture.' She called for a united response, including water, sanitation and hygiene programmes and more treatment facilities. In March, MSF said that 92 people had died of cholera in Sudan's White Nile State, where 2,700 people had contracted the disease since late February. The World Health Organisation said that the water-borne disease was a fast-developing and highly contagious infection that caused diarrhoea and led to severe dehydration and possible death within hours when not treated. The disease was transmitted through the ingestion of contaminated food or water. The outbreak is the latest crisis for Sudan, which was plunged into a war more than two years ago, when tensions between the Sudanese army and its rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces group, or RSF, exploded with street battles in Khartoum that quickly spread across the country. Since then, at least 20,000 people have been reported to have been killed, although the number is likely to be far higher, and more than 14 million have been displaced and forced from their homes. Sudan has also been engulfed by what the United Nations says is the world's largest humanitarian crisis, and disease outbreaks, famine and atrocities have mounted as the African country entered its third year of war. Last week, the Sudanese military said it had regained control of the Greater Khartoum area from the paramilitary forces. Mr Ibrahim, the health minister, attributed the cholera surge to the return of many Sudanese to the Khartoum region — people who had fled their homes to escape the fighting and were now coming back. Their returns had strained the city's dwindling water resources, he said.
