WHO: Rebuilding Gaza’s health system needs $10 billion

GAZA, Jan. 20 (YPA) – Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, revealed that rebuilding the health system in the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to relentless Israeli bombardment since October 7, 2023, needed to more than $10 billion.

Ghebreyesus warned in a post on X that rebuilding the health system in the Gaza Strip would be a “complex and difficult task given the scale of destruction, operational complexities and existing constraints” after the devastating 15-month genocidal war.

“Only half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are still partially operating,” the WHO stated, adding that only 38 percent of primary health care centers are operating.”

The organization stressed the importance of the need to provide effective protection for civilians and health care workers, accelerate medical evacuation operations through all possible routes for more than 12,000 patients who urgently need specialized care, strengthen and accelerate the referral system to East Al-Quds city and the West Bank.

Meanwhile, Tom Fletcher, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that with the ceasefire taking effect on Sunday, the humanitarian aid was being delivered to Gaza as part of a pre-arranged increase to support survivors.

He explained that over 630 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid entered Gaza, at least 300 of which headed north, adding that “there is no time to waste, after 15 months of continuous war, the humanitarian needs are staggering.”

Fletcher urgently called on countries with influence on both sides of the war to ensure that this life-saving aid reaches those who need it.

AA