Latest news with #Peeperkorn
Saba Yemen
21-05-2025
- Health
- Saba Yemen
WHO: Aid entering Gaza is just "drop in ocean"
Geneva - Saba: Rick Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization's representative in the occupied Palestinian territories, said that aid entering the Gaza Strip is just a "drop in the ocean." Peeperkorn stressed during his weekly press conference at the United Nations Office in Geneva that "more aid must be allowed into Gaza." Whatsapp Telegram Email Print more of (International)
Kuwait News Agency
14-05-2025
- Health
- Kuwait News Agency
WHO: Half a million people in Gaza face catastrophic situation
GENEVA, May 13 (KUNA) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday that the ongoing blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip by occupation forces could result in "one of the worst humanitarian crises since World War II" with nearly half a million people facing a "catastrophic situation of hunger, acute starvation and illness." Speaking from Gaza during a press conference in Geneva, WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territories Rik Peeperkorn said that more than 55 children have died due to complications from malnutrition and related illnesses since March 2, according to WHO reports. He added that approximately 71,000 children under the age of five are at risk of acute malnutrition in the coming months and more than 17,000 breastfeeding mothers are facing serious health risks due to continued food shortages and lack of healthcare. He warned of long-term effects of malnutrition including stunted growth in children cognitive impairments and a general deterioration in health Peeperkorn described the situation in Gaza as a "deadly spiral of food insecurity malnutrition a collapsing health system scarce clean water and deteriorating sanitation services" emphasizing that "nine out of ten people" are unable to access safe drinking water. The WHO representative also expressed concern over shortage of medical supplies stating that WHO warehouses in Gaza now hold enough materials to treat only a few hundred children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. According to a new report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the situation in Gaza is described as one of the worst hunger crises in the world. The report indicates that all 2.1 million residents of Gaza suffer from food insecurity with around 500,000 people experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger, acute malnutrition and disease. Another one million are severely affected and the remainder face moderate impacts. (end)
Qatar Tribune
13-05-2025
- Health
- Qatar Tribune
‘57 children in Gaza have died from effects of hunger'
Fifty-seven children have died from the effects of malnutrition during the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip, Rik Peeperkorn, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), said on Tuesday, citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Peeperkorn, who represents the WHO in the Palestinian Territories, said in a video call that the UN organization has not yet verified these figures. However, he noted that the WHO has observed an increase in malnourished children. In connection with this, he reported many young patients with pneumonia and gastrointestinal diseases. 'You normally don't die from starvation, you die from diseases associated with it,' he said. From the WHO's headquarters in Geneva, it was stated that in recent weeks, more than 57 children may have already died due to the food crisis. Since the beginning of March, the Israeli military has not allowed aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip. The armed forces accuse the Palestinian extremist organization Hamas of selling aid supplies at inflated prices to the suffering population and using the proceeds to pay for their fighters and weapons. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned at the beginning of the week of an escalating famine in the coastal strip, based on a recent analysis indicating that the entire population of the Gaza Strip - around 2.1 million people - is affected by acute food insecurity. Of these, 244,000 people are already suffering from famine, the FAO said. (DPA)
Scoop
13-05-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Gaza: 57 Children Reported Dead From Malnutrition, Says WHO
13 May 2025 Since the aid blockade began on 2 March, 57 children have reportedly died from the effects of malnutrition, according to the Ministry of Health. If the situation persists, nearly 71,000 children under the age of five are expected to be acutely malnourished over the next 11 months. Briefing journalists in Geneva, WHO's representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Dr. Rik Peeperkorn said that that Israel's complete aid embargo has left only enough WHO supplies to treat 500 children with acute malnutrition – 'a fraction of the urgent need'. 'People are trapped in this cycle where a lack of diversified food, malnutrition and disease fuel each other,' he warned. Dr. Peeperkorn's comments follow the publication on Monday of a new analysis by the UN-backed food security alert scale known as the IPC showing that one in five people in Gaza – 500,000 – faces starvation, while the entire 2.1 million population of the Strip is subjected to prolonged food shortages. WHO is a member of the IPC. An escalating hunger crisis 'This is one of the world's worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time,' Dr. Peeperkorn said. The UN health agency representative spoke of his recent visit to Kamal Adwan hospital in north Gaza, where each day more than 300 children are screened at a WHO-supported nutrition centre. During the visit, the hospital reported more than 11 per cent of cases with global acute malnutrition. Describing the affected children, he said, 'I've seen them [in the] wards… A child of five years old, and I thought he's two and a half.' WHO supports 16 outpatient and three inpatient malnutrition treatment centres in the enclave with lifesaving supplies, but the stopping of aid by Israel and shrinking humanitarian access are threatening its ability to sustain these operations. Dr. Peeperkorn insisted on the long-term damage from malnutrition which 'can last a lifetime,' with impacts including stunted growth, impaired cognitive development and health. 'Without enough nutritious food, clean water, access to health care, an entire generation will be permanently affected,' he warned. The WHO official stressed that the agency was 'constantly' raising with Israeli authorities the need to get supplies into the Strip. Some 31 WHO aid trucks are at a standstill in Al-Arish in Egypt just a few dozen kilometres away from the Rafah border crossing with Gaza and more supplies are positioned in the West Bank, ready to move 'any day when this is allowed.' 'Healthcare is not a target' Turning to attacks on healthcare, Dr. Peeperkorn said that the burn unit of Nasser Medical Complex in the southern town of Khan Younis was reportedly hit by an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday, killing two and injuring 12. The attack has resulted in the loss of 18 hospital beds in the surgical department including eight 'critical' intensive care beds. Media reported that a Palestinian journalist was killed in the attack during treatment for injuries sustained in a previous airstrike. 'Healthcare is not a target,' Dr. Peeperkorn concluded. He reiterated calls for the protection of health facilities, an immediate end to the aid blockade, the release of all hostages held by Palestinian armed groups and for a ceasefire 'which leads to lasting peace.'
Express Tribune
13-05-2025
- Health
- Express Tribune
Gaza hunger crisis may scar entire generation, says WHO
Israel is denying food and aid to civilians as a weapon of war. PHOTO: REUTERS Listen to article Malnutrition rates are rising in Gaza, emergency treatments to counter it are running out and hunger could have a lasting impact on "an entire generation", a World Health Organization official said on Tuesday. Israel has blockaded supplies into the enclave since early March, when it resumed its devastating military campaign against Hamas, and a global hunger monitor on Monday warned that half a million people there faced starvation. WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Rik Peeperkorn said he had seen children who looked years younger than their age and visited a north Gaza hospital where over 20% of children screened suffered from acute malnutrition. "What we see is an increasing trend in generalised acute malnutrition," Peeperkorn told a press briefing by video link from Deir al-Balah. "I've seen a child that's five years old, and you would say it was two-and-a-half." "Without enough nutritious food, clean water and access to healthcare, an entire generation will be permanently affected," he said, warning of stunting and impaired cognitive development. The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency Philippe Lazzarini told the BBC on Tuesday that he thought Israel was denying food and aid to civilians as a weapon of war, opens new tab. Israel has repeatedly blamed Hamas for causing hunger by stealing aid meant for civilians. Hamas denies the allegation. Israel is pressing its own US-backed plan to get aid into Gaza which it says will cut out Hamas and distribute aid directly from what it calls neutral distribution sites. The WHO criticised it in a statement late on Monday as "grossly inadequate" to meet the population's immediate needs. Due to the blockade, WHO only has enough stocks to treat 500 children with acute malnutrition, which is only a fraction of what is needed, Peeperkorn said. Already, 55 children have died of acute malnutrition, he said, citing Gaza Health Ministry figures. if drugmakers don't meet the government's expectations Peeperkorn said he had seen many children in hospitals with illnesses such as gastroenteritis and pneumonia which, due to their reduced immunity linked to hunger, could be fatal. "You normally don't die from starvation. You die from the diseases associated to that," he said.
