GAZA,(The Palestinian Information Center)Gaza’s Government Media Office (GMO) confirmed the wide spread of a new strain of influenza in the Gaza Strip amid a severe shortage of medicines caused by the Israeli blockade and the ongoing war of extermination.
In a statement on Sunday, the GMO explained that in recent days, especially among displaced people in shelters, as well as among patients and children in particular, there has been a sharp and widespread outbreak of this new influenza strain, under catastrophic health conditions caused by the Israeli blockade and ongoing genocide.
The rapid spread was attributed to extreme overcrowding, lack of water and ventilation, and the collapse of health services due to the war and Israeli restrictions, posing a direct threat to the lives of the most vulnerable groups.
It noted that the few hospitals still operating are handling this wave of illness amid severe shortages of staff and medical supplies, relying only on primary care and symptomatic treatments, without comprehensive treatment protocols, due to the Israeli “criminal measures”.
The GMO stressed that infections are estimated in the thousands across all governorates of the Gaza Strip, with daily increases, particularly among children, the elderly, and patients with chronic diseases.
It added that no specific or effective medicines for this strain are available in Gaza; and if they exist, they are in extremely limited quantities, virtually nonexistent, because of the Israeli ongoing prevention of dozens of essential medicines from entering, in clear violation of Article (56) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which obligates it to provide medical care to populations under occupation.
The GMO held Israel and the US administration fully responsible for the deterioration of health conditions in the Gaza Strip, and called on the international community, as well as Arab and Islamic states, to intervene to stop the genocide, open the crossings, lift the blockade, and bring in medicines before it is too late.
