Gaza residents face “toxic” combination of disease, hunger and lack of hygiene: WHO chief

“Hunger weakens the body’s defenses and opens the door to disease,” World Health Organization director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“Gaza is already experiencing soaring rates of infectious disease outbreaks. Diarrhoea cases among children aged under 5 are 25 times what they were before the conflict,” he added.

“Such illnesses can be lethal for malnourished children, more so in the absence of functioning health services. We need a ceasefire now.”

Tedros’ comments come amid multiple calls from UN agencies for a pause in fighting to help relief efforts in Gaza.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has also warned Thursday that intense fighting is impeding efforts to assist people in Gaza.

He called for “conditions to allow for large-scale humanitarian operations” to be “reestablished immediately”.

On Wednesday, the World Food Programme announced half of Gaza’s population is starving and residents are often going entire days without eating. Meanwhile, UNICEF warned Tuesday that children and families “are not safe in hospitals” in Gaza as the enclave’s wider health care system teeters on the edge of collapse.