Cairo: Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, has highlighted the urgent need to transition from crisis response to recovery in Gaza. She emphasized that rebuilding the region’s health system is crucial not only for saving lives but also for restoring dignity, stability, and hope for the future.
According to Emirates News Agency, the statements were made during the Seventy-second session of the WHO’s Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean (RC72) Presser. Balkhy addressed the dire conditions in the Gaza Strip, expressing a glimmer of hope that the conflict might be nearing an end. However, she cautioned that the cessation of fighting would mark the beginning of a new challenge: reconstructing Gaza’s devastated health system and rescuing the population from the brink of famine and despair.
Balkhy explained that the reconstruction of the health sector in Gaza would require significant financial investment. Over $7 billion is earmarked for humanitarian response, early recovery, and long-term needs. She argued that this investment is essential for achieving peace and stability through improved health.
Currently, only 14 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza are partially operational, plagued by shortages of electricity, clean water, medicine, and damaged infrastructure. The World Health Organization (WHO), which supplies all the fuel for hospitals and ambulances, has delivered 17 million liters of fuel to keep essential services running. However, much more is needed to ensure that vital supplies, from antibiotics to wound dressings, reach every corner of Gaza without delay.
Balkhy also highlighted the severe malnutrition crisis, noting that 455 people, including 151 children, have died from malnutrition since January. Over half a million people are experiencing famine-like conditions, while more than a million others are severely food insecure. The situation is particularly dire for pregnant and breastfeeding women, with seven in ten suffering from acute malnutrition. Additionally, one in five babies is born underweight or premature, and infectious diseases are on the rise.
WHO is prepared to support the recovery of Gaza’s health system by restoring core services, strengthening the health workforce, and building a resilient, people-centered system of care. Next week, health ministers, policymakers, and regional health leaders will convene in Cairo for the 72nd session of the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean.
