Famine in Gaza is imminent, with health consequences - WHO

KUALA LUMPUR - The World Health Organisation (WHO) said the latest analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reflects the dire situation that the people of Gaza are facing.

WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said over a million people are expected to face catastrophic hunger unless significantly more food is allowed to enter Gaza.

"Before this crisis, there was enough food in Gaza to feed the population. Malnutrition was a rare occurrence. Now, people are dying, and many more are sick," he said in a WHO statement published on the agency's official website.

The United Nations (UN)-backed IPC report says the entire population in the Gaza Strip of about 2.23 million is facing high levels of acute food insecurity.

The report says between mid-March and mid-July, in the most likely scenario and under the assumption of an escalation of the conflict including a ground offensive in Rafah, half of the population of the Gaza Strip or about 1.11 million people is expected to face catastrophic conditions.

The report also says famine is now projected and imminent in the North Gaza and Gaza Governorates and is expected to manifest from mid-March 2024 to May 2024.

Ghebreyesus said the IPC report confirms what WHO, UN partners, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been witnessing and reporting on for months.

"When our missions reach hospitals, we meet exhausted and hungry health workers who ask us for food and water. We see patients trying to recover from life-saving surgeries and losses of limbs, or sick with cancer or diabetes, mothers who have just given birth, or newborn babies, all suffering from hunger and the diseases that stalk it," he said.

He said: "Without a significant and immediate increase in deliveries of food, water, and other essential supplies, conditions will continue to deteriorate. Virtually all households are already skipping meals every day, and adults are reducing their meals so that children can eat."

Ghebreyesus said the current situation will have long-term effects on the lives and health of thousands.

"Right now, children are dying from the combined effects of malnutrition and disease. Malnutrition makes people more vulnerable to getting severely ill, experiencing slow recovery, or dying when they are infected with a disease.

"The long-term effects of malnutrition, low consumption of nutrient-rich foods, repeated infections, and lack of hygiene and sanitation services slow children’s overall growth. This compromises the health and well-being of an entire future generation," he said.

Ghebreyesus said WHO and other UN partners again ask Israel to open more crossings and accelerate the entry and delivery of water, food, medical supplies, and other humanitarian aid into and within Gaza.

"As the occupying force, it is their responsibility under international law to allow for the passage of supplies, including food.

"Recent efforts to deliver by air and sea are welcome, but only the expansion of land crossings will enable large-scale deliveries to prevent famine. The time to act is now," he said. - BERNAMA