News in Brief 14 February 2024 |

This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

Gaza: Rafah invasion would be a disaster “beyond imagination”, warn UN medics 

UN medical staff said on Wednesday that they feared a humanitarian disaster “beyond imagination” if a full-scale incursion by the Israeli military happens in Rafah in southern Gaza.

Echoing renewed deep concerns by the UN’s top humanitarian official, Martin Griffiths, that an assault on Rafah “could lead to a slaughter”, the World Health Organization (WHO) also firmly rejected allegations of years-long collusion with non-health partners either in or underneath Gaza’s hospitals.

Here’s Dr. Teresa Zakaria, WHO Incident manager for the conflict in the Occupied Palestinian Territory :

“No, there is no collusion between WHO and any other entities in the health sector, in the health partners, in the (local) Ministry of Health who we are collaborating with…I’m sure that you can also appreciate that in hospitals where there are lots of patients, lots of displaced populations, when we focus on delivering services, that’s really what we are doing.”

The development comes as the UN health agency reported that hospitals in Rafah are “completely overburdened …and close to the brink of collapse”.

Some 1.5 million people are now crammed into the south of Gaza while some 8,000 need urgent medical evacuation from the enclave, according to WHO.

The UN health agency noted that since November, only 30 per cent of WHO missions to the north were facilitated by the Israeli authorities and that since January, even fewer requests to deliver aid have been granted – even though the WHO and the wider UN were “ready to carry out more …missions, to the north, to the centre, to the south”.

UNICEF steps up fight against cholera in eastern and southern Africa 

To eastern and southern Africa, where UN agencies are helping fight a deadly cholera outbreak in 13 countries.

In some States, more than half of all cases of infection are children under 15 years old; under-fives account for four in 10 deaths.

Support from UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund, and the UN World Health Organization (WHO) has included help with mass vaccination campaigns to governments and community-based volunteers and health workers, most recently in Comoros, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

The UN agencies have also worked to ensure that children’s education is not interrupted by the disease outbreak, and they have continued to secure access to clean water and sanitation facilities, health supplies and medical products for more than 8.3 million people.

These basic services are crucial in protecting people from cholera, which is caused by ingesting food or water contaminated with Vibrio cholerae bacteria. It causes acute diarrhoea and can kill within hours if left untreated.

Condemnation for new attacks on public cases in Ukraine

To Ukraine, where deadly attacks on a hospital and other public services in the east of the country on Wednesday have been strongly condemned by the UN’s top aid official there, Denise Brown.

In a statement, Ms. Brown said that she was “deeply saddened and shocked” by the Valentine’s Day strikes in Selydove town in the Donetsk Region.

“Yet another overnight attack” on the war-torn town took more civilian lives and damaged a hospital, homes and nearby civilian infrastructure, she said, noting that the reported casualties included a pregnant woman, a mother with her child, a six-month-old baby, and other adults and children. 

Ms. Brown said that patients had to be evacuated in the middle of the night for the second time in a few months, as the same hospital had been hit in November 2023.

“These repeated attacks impacting vital healthcare facilities are a stark reminder of the devastating impact that Russia’s war on Ukraine has on civilians, especially those seeking medical care,” she said.

According to the UN health agency, WHO, so far in 2024 there have been 28 attacks on health care in Ukraine. These have impacted medical personnel, patients, hospital buildings, transport and supplies across the country. 

Daniel Johnson, UN News.