Displaced people in Gaza face epidemic diseases due to pollution and the lack of water and fuel

Weather of Arabia - The displaced people in Gaza suffer from the lack of safe water for drinking and use, and after displacement from one area to another, the shelters became overcrowded with residents, and it is not strange to find approximately 70 people residing in one room, including children and women.

This matter exacerbated any health problems, as the presence of a large number of people in a closed room alone causes the infection to spread quickly from one person to another, in addition to the pollution occurring in bathrooms and other facilities due to the lack of water for use, which leads to all the displaced people suffering from malnutrition. Or continuous poisoning due to contaminated water and the lack of safe water for use and drinking.

Even the rooms where the displaced live are in very bad condition, as there are no materials for cleaning laundry, especially since most of the displaced were displaced with a small amount of clothes.

A humanitarian catastrophe awaits the displaced in the Gaza Strip

In addition, the interruption of basic and main materials, as a result of the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, and the depletion of fuel, exacerbate the challenges in various aspects of life, increasing the repercussions and suffering. There is a sharp decline in the health and hospital infrastructure in Gaza, which leads to a significant increase in the number of injured and sick people, which exceeds the services provided.

All of this indicates an approaching humanitarian catastrophe among displaced Palestinians and asylum centers in southern Gaza. This is mainly due to the high risk of epidemics and diseases, especially deadly ones, as a result of the difficult living conditions, which are made worse by the lack of clean water and the scarcity of suitable toilets, in addition to the accumulation of waste.

More than 33,551 cases of diarrhea since mid-October

In this context, the World Health Organization has warned of the increasing threat of the spread of diseases in the Gaza Strip, as a result of the Israeli air strikes that affected the health system and hindered access to clean water, in addition to the large overcrowding in shelters.

The organization noted, "As the number of deaths and infections in Gaza continues to rise due to the aggressive escalation, severe overcrowding in shelters, disruption of the health system, and impacts on water and sanitation networks increase the risk of infectious diseases spreading rapidly. Some worrying trends have already begun to emerge."

The World Health Organization also reported that more than 33,551 cases of diarrhea had been recorded since mid-October, and explained that the vast majority of these cases were in children under the age of five. The organization indicated that the number of affected children represents a significant increase compared to the monthly average of two thousand cases in this age group during the years 2021 and 2022.

Fuel shortages cause widespread respiratory problems

According to what displaced people reported, water pollution is visible to the naked eye, and this pollution has led to the emergence of new diseases, particularly among children and the elderly, the most important of which are skin diseases. Respiratory problems have also begun to affect the displaced as a result of them starting fires for cooking and heating due to the lack of fuel and gas.

The lack of fuel in the Gaza Strip led to the disruption of solid waste collection operations, creating a favorable environment for the spread of insects and rodents that can transmit diseases. This shortage also led to the closure of desalination plants, increasing the risk of the spread of bacterial infections, especially diarrheal infections.

In addition, health facilities in Gaza struggle to provide basic infection prevention and control measures, increasing the risk of severe infections and challenges in wound care and delivery.

A cholera outbreak would be very serious in these circumstances

Ghassan Wahba, an epidemiologist and head of the Epidemiology Department at the Ministry of Health in Gaza, warns of the possibility of the spread of cholera due to the difficult health conditions, as the Strip faces interruptions in water supplies, contamination of existing water, and other challenges. Ghassan Wahba points out that a cholera outbreak would be very dangerous in these circumstances, due to the lack of clean water and appropriate conditions for the spread of the disease. This warning reflects the threat to public health in Gaza and the need to take immediate action to improve health infrastructure and ensure the availability of resources to confront any potential disease outbreak.

If people in Gaza hide from bombing... how will they hide from diseases?

According to Ghassan Wahba, an expert in epidemiological diseases and head of the Epidemiology Department at the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the spread of many diseases is accelerating in light of the difficult health conditions faced by the population in Gaza.

Wahba points out the spread of cases of diarrhea, food poisoning, skin infections, the spread of lice, rat-borne diseases, and blood poisoning, in addition to the spread of measles cases, especially among children, as a result of the loss of measles vaccines and the lack of medicines.

Wahba warns of the spread of many diseases that were previously overcome, points out the danger of their spread due to the lack of preventive and therapeutic measures, and stresses the importance of providing the necessary resources to confront any possible outbreak of diseases.

Source: alhurra