Israel’s war in Gaza has weakened the territory’s health system, leaving malnourished children without treatment. Doctors say they are forced to turn away parents who ask for milk for their newborns and are unable to even sort out children with chronic illnesses due to severe hunger.
More than eight months of bombing have destroyed infrastructure and wiped out communities in Gaza and the surrounding area. Sanitation systems, already strained by water shortages due to extreme heat, have been severely damaged, reducing access to clean water, according to the United Nations.
A report released on June 25 by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which assesses global food insecurity and malnutrition, warned that nearly all of Gaza will face famine within the next three months.
Palestinian children fetch water in Jabalya, northern Gaza, June 3. Photo: AFP
The UN food agency has previously warned that southern Gaza could soon see the same "catastrophic levels of famine" previously recorded in the north, where Israel focused its military offensive in the early days of the conflict.
At least 34 children have died of malnutrition, the Gaza Media Office reported on June 22. The actual number could be higher as limited access has prevented agencies from accurately assessing and counting the numbers. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said earlier this month that more than 50,000 children needed treatment for acute malnutrition.
Infants and pregnant women are among those most at risk of malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza, according to aid agencies and health workers. Undernourished mothers are more likely to give birth prematurely or even to die from low birth weight.
At Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, doctors were unable to save Amal just four days after she was born. Before she died, Amal was breathing heavily in an incubator, after her mother, Samaher, gave birth two months prematurely. Her tiny pink toes were wrapped in plastic tubes.
“These children are dying. It is God’s decision, but it is man-made,” her father, Ahmed Maqat, said after her death on June 22. Maqat said Samaher had endured months of pregnancy without sleeping, eating or drinking.
“Everybody in these beds today is in danger of dying. One by one they are dying,” he added, his voice shaking with grief. “We have no life.”
Some 250 patients are being treated for malnutrition in hospitals and there are only two functioning stabilisation centres for severely malnourished children in Gaza, putting at risk nearly 3,000 children who were being treated for acute malnutrition in the south before the military escalation in Rafah.
Doctors say they are often unable to treat babies with symptoms of malnutrition, including breathing problems, chest infections and severe dehydration, because medical supplies are running low.
A local pediatrician said malnourished patients with chronic or infectious diseases are less likely to recover because of the spike in disease transmission in shelters. Authorities in Gaza have recorded more than 1.4 million cases of infectious diseases since October 7, according to the health ministry.
Hoai Phuong (according to CNN)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/tre-em-gaza-dang-chet-dan-trong-vong-tay-cha-me-khi-nan-doi-lan-rong-post300833.html
Comment (0)