Skin diseases are running rampant in Gaza, health officials say, from appalling conditions in overcrowded tent camps housing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes. Palestinians say they have no soap to wash themselves, their children or their clothes during the summer heat.
Displaced child Sham al-Hessi, center, who suffers from skin disease, is covered with skin cream as she poses for a picture, at a makeshift tent camp in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip , Monday, July 29, 2024. Skin diseases are running rampant in Gaza, health officials say, from appalling conditions in overcrowded tent camps housing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes.
Doctors are wrestling with more than 103,000 cases of lice and scabies and 65,000 cases of skin rashes, according to the World Health Organization. In Gaza’s population of some 2.3 million, more than 1 million cases of acute respiratory infections have been recorded since the war began, along with more than half a million of acute diarrhea and more than 100,000 cases of jaundice, according to the United Nations Development Program.
Palestinians in the camp said clean water was almost impossible to get. Some wash their children in salt water from the nearby Mediterranean. People have to wear the same clothes day after day until they’re able to wash them, then they wear them again immediately. Flies are everywhere. Children play in garbage-strewn sand.
The distribution of humanitarian supplies, including soap, shampoo and medicines, has slowed to a trickle, U.N. officials say, because Israeli military operations and general lawlessness in Gaza make it too dangerous for relief trucks to move. In a report released Tuesday, the UNDP said Gaza’s two pre-war landfills were unreachable amid the fighting and it had set up 10 temporary sites. But Noguchi said there were more than 140 informal dumping sites that have cropped up. Some of them are giant pools of human waste and garbage.
Scabies and lice are at epidemic proportions, he said, but other fungal, bacterial and viral infections and parasites are also running wild.For example, Basala said, impetigo is a simple bacterial infection treatable with creams. But sometimes by the time the patient gets to a doctor, “the bacteria have spread and affected the kidneys,” he said. “We’ve had cases of kidney failure” as a result. Scratched rashes get infected in the pervasive dirt.Children are the most affected.
Gaza Strip General News Middle East I Israel Health United Nations A World News World Health Organization
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Adidas pulls Bella Hadid sneaker ads, 'revising' campaign after Israel backlash: 'completely unintentional'Palestinian-American model Bella Hadid has long been vocal on her support of Palestinians.
Read more »
Israel orders evacuation of part of Gaza humanitarian zone as war’s toll passes 39,000 PalestiniansThe Israeli military said it is planning to begin an operation against Hamas militants who have embedded themselves in the area and used it to launch rockets...
Read more »
Israel orders evacuation of part of Gaza humanitarian zone; Palestinian death toll passes 39,000The Israeli military has ordered the evacuation of part of a crowded area in Gaza it has designated a humanitarian zone.
Read more »
Live blog: Israel kills scores of Palestinians in Gaza's Khan YounisIsrael's war on Gaza, now in its 290th day, has killed at least 39,006 Palestinians — the majority of them women and children –– and wounded 89,818 others, with 10,000+ estimated to be buried under the debris.
Read more »
Palestinians in Gaza indifferent to Biden decision after nine months of warAfter enduring nine months of devastating war, Palestinians in the central city of Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip are indifferent about U.S.
Read more »
Live blog: Palestinian factions agree to set up unity government in GazaIsrael's war on Gaza, now in its 291st day, has killed at least 39,006 Palestinians — the majority of them women and children –– and wounded 89,818 others, with 10,000+ estimated to be buried under the debris.
Read more »