Luanda — Angola has joined the other member states since the 10th of this month in a special session organised by the Executive Board of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the precarious health situation in Gaza, the occupied Palestinian territory.
At the emergency meeting on health in Gaza organised at the request of 17 member states of the WHO Executive Board and held at the organisation's headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in a hybrid format (in person and by video conference), Angola considered it timely and expressed the country's opportunity to discuss the terrible humanitarian conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory.
At the time, Angola's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva, Margarida Izata, highlighted all the relevant resolutions and decisions adopted by the World Health Assembly (WHA) on this subject, and shared Angola's concern about the human tragedy, humanity and health conditions currently being observed in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in Gaza province.
On the other hand, the official welcomed all multilateral initiatives aimed at substantially reducing the suffering of all the victims of the unnecessary conflict and preserving the dignity of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples, as well as the safety of UN health workers deployed at the epicentre of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Angola also supported the resolution submitted today for consideration by member states, and invited other states committed to the human cause to join the initiative.
The director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, presented statistics recorded in the context of intense war, and health-related issues.
He regretted the loss of more than 100 UN professionals in Gaza and said that health needs have increased dramatically and the capacity of the health system has been reduced to a third of what it was.
The director-general informed that WHO is on the ground in Gaza, alongside its partners, to support the health workers who are physically and mentally exhausted and doing their best in difficult conditions.
He deplored the barbaric and unjustifiable Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October, which killed more than 1,200 people, adding that he is shocked by the reports of gender-based violence during the attacks and the mistreatment of the hostages.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus revealed that it is relieved due to the fact that 114 hostages had been released and reiterated his call for the remaining hostages to be freed.
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To him, the impact on health in Gaza is catastrophic, and statistics indicate that more than 17,000 people have already died in Gaza, including 7,000 children and other people who were left under the rubble of their homes. There are also more than 46,000 injured and 1.9 million displaced people.
In this way, almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip seeks shelter wherever they can find it, and as more people move to smaller and smaller areas, overcrowding, combined with the lack of adequate food, water, shelter and sanitation, are creating the ideal conditions for the spread of disease and other health conditions in that area that are equally worrying.
All the UN member states and representatives of other interested institutions as well as non-governmental organisations who took part in the dialogue were unanimous in calling on those directly involved in the situation to adopt the Resolution on the table in order to allow for the implementation of an immediate ceasefire and the creation of conditions for effective humanitarian assistance to all the victims.
The WHO Executive Board is made up of 34 members who are technically qualified in the field of health. Members are elected for three-year terms. The Council's main functions are to fulfil the decisions and policies of the World Health Assembly, advise it and generally facilitate its work, as well as to prepare the agenda for the next World Health Assembly.
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