Gaza: UNRWA Reports Increased Cases of Hepatitis A

Refugee Camp in Gaza, july 2024 Photo: EFE

July 30, 2024 Hour: 4:47 pm

The organization stresses that from the beginning it has taken steps to diagnose the disease, inform and consult people, since there is no specific treatment for this disease.

The number of hepatitis sufferers in the Gaza Strip rose from 85 to almost 40,000 following the start of the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, which reported the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA).

According to the agency, “between 800 and 1,000 new cases of hepatitis are reported every week in UNRWA health centers and shelters throughout Gaza”.

“The outbreak of hepatitis A is spreading in Gaza during the war. Families are displaced and live in appalling and inhumane conditions in overcrowded camps and shelters. They lack drinking water, hygiene kits and proper waste and sewage management,” the statement said.

He also denounced that ten months after this brutal conflict, Severe restrictions on humanitarian access and the lack of adequate medical care and prevention measures have created the perfect recipe for this disease to spread in The Gaza Strip, especially among children in overcrowded shelters.

800 to 1,000 new hepatitis cases are reported weekly from @UNRWA health centres & shelters across #Gaza – a total of nearly 40,000 since the war began

Desperate sanitary conditions facilitate the spread of diseases including Hepatitis A #WorldHepatitisDay https://t.co/TaZNph52iz pic.twitter.com/TvFwMvVpor
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) July 30, 2024

The day before, the Palestinian Ministry of Health declared the polio epidemic in the Gaza Strip, The main cause of the spread is the continuing fighting operations in the besieged territory.

The Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which began on 7 October, has left more than 39,400 Palestinians killed, mostly women and children, and 90,996 wounded.