GENEVA -- The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday expressed deep concern regarding the escalating conflict in northern Gaza which blocked the delivery of humanitarian and medical aid.

Speaking in a press conference in Geneva, the WHO director General highlighted that the United Nations was able to secure one mission out of 54 scheduled missions to northern Gaza from the beginning of this month. Ghebreyesus condemned the continued targeting of Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir Al-Balah for the eight times since last March, emphasizing the importance of adhering to international humanitarian law and the protection of healthcare facilities.

Ghebreyesus also announced the start of the second round of the polio vaccination campaign last Monday targeting more than 500,000 children and stressed the importance of achieving a 90 percent vaccination rate of children to halt the spread of the virus and boost immunity with doses of vitamin A.

Ghebreyesus also reported that WHO has documented 23 attacks on healthcare facilities since the start of the conflict in Lebanon resulting in the deaths of 72 people and injury of 43 others including healthcare workers and patients. He noted that half of the primary healthcare centers in conflict-affected areas have been shut down while six hospitals were fully evacuated, and five others partially evacuated due to heavy bombarding and insecurity.

Ghebreyesus warned bout the risk of a cholera outbreak in Lebanon following the confirmation of a case pointing out that the national oral cholera vaccination campaign launched by the Lebanese Ministry of Health in August has been suspended due to the intensifying violence.
He explained that WHO has activated its cholera preparedness and response plan to support surveillance efforts and track infection trends in addition to strengthening water and sanitation monitoring.

For his part WHO's representative in Lebanon Abdel Nasser Abou Bakar said that the risk of cholera spread is significantly linked to the increasing number of displaced persons moving from southern to northern Lebanon particularly from areas that have not undergone cholera vaccination.

The Director-General stressed that the ultimate solution to the current health crises in Gaza and Lebanon is not the securing of humanitarian aid but in achieving durable peace in the region.


In a separate context Ghebreyesus commended the generous pledges received by WHO during the conference it held in Berlin from October 13 to 15 where more than one billion dollars were raised underscoring also the importance of continued support at the upcoming G20 summit which will take place in Brazil next month. 

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